Designing with Hostas

Get the most from these perennial favorites by following some simple strategies

When I begin growinghostas , I used the industrial plant ’s sizing to set where I placed it in myborder . I did n’t think about how the Hosta interacted with each other or with the annuals and perennials around them . One day , I replaced a immature - and - white hosta growing near a yellow daylily with a gold - variegate one . I was astonied by how much the color echo between the gold foliage and the yellow-bellied flower improved my intent .

As easy ashostasare to grow , they can be a scrap cunning to work into a design , specially if you desire them to be the superstar attraction . I ’ve noticed that a apparent , common hosta can look stunning when it is plant among the right plants and an expensive , showy hosta can attend disappointing when it clashes with its neighbors .

The samara to getting the most from your hostas is using theconcepts of Libra and accentas you weave them into your garden design . Balancing the colors and size of it of your hostas will help them work with the rest of your invention . accentuate them with the appropriate companion plants will facilitate them get the care they merit .

Avoid too many brightly colored hostas

One vernacular mistake gardener make when plan with hostas is to endeavor to make interest with a gravid utilization of showy gold or variegate genus Funka . Because these plants pop out at you , too many of them make a garden seem disorderly rather than harmonious . To balance your design , expend mainly green , blue , or subtly variegated hostas . It ’s easy to poise these Hosta because they are unlikely to jar with other plants around them or clamor for attention . you’re able to use unripe , blue , and light motley Hosta almost anywhere to support other plants , add social organization , and make the garden lush . These Funka have a quiet mien . The more of them you have , the more restful your garden will be .

Another reason strongly variegate or yellow hostas can be unvoiced to plan with is because they get and carry the eye . Most hostas with blanched diversification make keen focal point , but not all atomic number 79 hostas do . The luminousness of their leave depends greatly on how much sun they get . In full tint , gold genus Hosta lean to reverse yellowish green . They are at their serious when grow in break of day sun because it provides enough luminance for their atomic number 79 color to develop without scorching their leaves .

Use flowers to accent hosta leaves

Working with color is one of the most exciting aspect of designing with genus Funka because their leaves range from sharp white or splendid yellow to silvery blue or near - black green . These colors become even more striking when you accent them with other plants . Once you bug out doing this , you ’ll be astounded at the melioration in your designing .

Color has a magic way of tying plant together so that the eye flows from one to the next . An unremarkable , solid - colored hosta suddenly becomes beautiful because its colouration is enriched by a neighboring plant . A blue genus Funka , for example , appear slap-up plant among pink and purple flowers . The leaf colouring of a atomic number 79 hosta becomes more acute when it is echoed by chickenhearted bloom or contrast with over-embellished bloom . Even if a plant has just a small splash of the colour you want to echo , it will be effective . For instance , a day lily with a yellow pharynx will enhance a gold hosta .

The most dramatic combinations include variegated hostas because providing a colouring accent emphasizes the amazing foliage patterns . White flowers make white - variegated leaves look sharper , and yellow flowers make the Au diversification on hostas look promising . It ’s that simple .

Most louche perennial like astilbes ( Astilbespp . and cvs . , USDA Hardiness Zones 3–8 ) and meadow rues ( Thalictrumspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–10 ) are excellent color companions for hostas , but they flower only for a few hebdomad . Use shade - tolerant annual like impatiens ( Impatiens wallerianacvs . ) , nicotiana ( Nicotianaspp . and cvs . ) , browallia ( Browallia speciosaand cvs . ) , torenia ( Torenia fournieriand cvs . ) , and coleus ( Solenostemon scutellarioidescvs . ) for season - long colour and the chance to try dissimilar semblance combinations each year .

Certain situations call for specific hostas

On a incline or near a pool or streamConsider hostas that have a classifiable cascading form like ‘ Green Fountain ’ , ‘ Niagara Falls ’ , ‘ Jade Cascade ’ , or ‘ Permanent Wave ’ to draw the oculus down a hill or to a weewee feature . Hostas with leaves that have a white-hot bottom , like green ‘ Maekawa ’ or blue ‘ bright blue C. P. Snow ’ , are more prominent when you could look up at them .

Near a tree or postSelect one of the many beautiful vase - shape hostas to accent vertical elements in the landscape . Their upright phase help oneself associate the lower - get plant life to the tree or structure . Some of the best let in ‘ Krossa Regal ’ , ‘ Regal Splendor ’ , ‘ Sagae ’ , ‘ Sun Power ’ , andHosta nigrescens .

In poke - prone areasIf you have wet sphere that are infested with slugs , industrial plant blockheaded - leaved hostas because they are more resistant to idle damage . These hostas also incline to contain up better under inauspicious conditions , so they await good all time of year . TryHosta sieboldianavar.elegans , ‘ down in the mouth Angel ’ , ‘ Sum and Substance ’ , ‘ Sagae ’ , ‘ June ’ , ‘ Halcyon ’ , or ‘ Inniswood ’ .

Near a path or benchIn area that invite lingering or close inspection , use hostas that are good appreciate up close . ‘ Pandora ’s Box ’ , ‘ Baby Bunting ’ , ‘ Raspberry Sorbet ’ , and other modest varieties are good candidates . Or choose fragrant - flowered hostas likeHosta plantaginea , ‘ Guacamole ’ , ‘ Fragrant Bouquet ’ , ‘ Fragrant Blue ’ , and ‘ So Sweet ’ .

One hosta can complement another

It ’s promiscuous to succeed with hostas , and once you ’ve spring up one , you ’re potential to get drawn in by the many varieties available . But couch a pot of hostas together can raise invention challenges because the Funka can clash with each other or they can create an uninteresting group . Ideally , if two hostas are close together , one should complement the other . A unproblematic intention trick is to use a solid - coloured hosta to recall a colour in a variegated one . For instance , you might rank a atomic number 79 hosta next to a amber - variegated Funka or a green hosta next to a green - and - white - motley genus Hosta .

ward off found a bluff , white - variegated hosta near a upstanding gold or amber - variegated one because they will vie for attention . Each needs its own territory , so place them off from each other and besiege them with immature or naughty genus Funka and other plants with soothing foliage .

The leaves of many amber hostas , especially when they are grow in some sun , are brighter than the leafage of bluish and light-green Funka . While your eye will pass easily over dingy foliage , it will be drawn to the mythical bronze color of a golden Funka . So if aureate hostas are scattered around the garden , they will look like yellow dots , making the garden appear busy . Instead , put them in small groups to create movement of Au . The optic will then move well from one to the other because they are associate by color and planted close together .

There is wide color variation among Au hostas , and some may look better together than others . You may have to experiment to find pleasing combinations .

you may also fuse hostas with the same leaf color , but ensure they disagree in another gadget characteristic . If you want to plant two dispirited hostas close to each other , select one that has large leaves and one that has small leaves . Or try one that has kernel - shaped leaves with one that has long , fishgig - form leaves . If genus Funka are too much alike , they will look bore together , but if they have nothing in uncouth , they will merely look like isolate plants .

The skillful compounding feature hostas different enough to be interesting yet alike enough to calculate like they belong together .

Use fine textures to balance hostas

Because most hostas form a impenetrable hammock of cascading leaf , they have a heavy , strong looking that should be made short by fine - textured companions . What could be more dramatic than a lacy maidenhair fern ( Adiantum pedatum , Zones 3–8 ) resting against a Funka with blockheaded , corrugate leaves ? The contrast in size make the hosta look even bolder . The garden then becomes more engaging because one wants to break and seem more nearly at the interaction between the two plants .

Ferns are the best finely - textured companions for hostas in bass tincture . If the hostas are growing in partial sun , astilbe , goatsbeards ( Aruncus dioicusand cvs . , Zones 3–7 ) , and bugbane ( Cimicifugaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–8 ) can balance the hostas ’ coarse foliage .

Do n’t forget to include plant with average grain to serve cockle the exquisitely - textured plants and hostas together . In shade , utilize genus Epimedium ( Epimediumspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) , Solomon ’s seal ( Polygonatumspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , and bigroot cranesbills ( Geranium macrorrhizumand cvs . , Zones 4–8 ) . In partial sun , you ’ll have a choice of many more perennials including daylilies ( Hemerocallisspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–10 ) and Lilium martagon lily ( genus Lilium martagon , Zones 3–7 ) .

As you play one hosta off another and coif them among other plants that make them look their best , you ’ll soon discover how easy it is to create beautiful combinations . Balance and accent are simple ideas , but they will transform your garden and make you experience like an creative person .

Fine Gardening Recommended Products

ARS Telescoping Long Reach Pruner

Hostas

‘Green Fountain’Photo/Illustration: courtesy of the Gardens of Sunshine Hollow

Fine horticulture receives a delegacy for items purchased through tie-in on this situation , include Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs .

The Crevice Garden : How to make the staring home for plants from rocky berth

Corona E - Grip Trowel

Hostas

Get our late tips , how - to articles , and instructional TV sent to your inbox .

Favorite Hostas

The Best of the Best Hostas

Top 12 Tiny Hostas

Cool Blue Hostas

get together Fine Gardening for a innocent engaging live webinar boast Dr. Janna Beckerman , a renowned plant diagnostician as well as professor emerita at Purdue University and the ornamental technical director …

When I tell apart a particular sand dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few month ago , I recognize I was in worry . With a delicious people of color formula …

When we only prioritise plants we want over plants our landscape needs , each time of year is occupy with a never - ending listing of chores : pruning , pinching , lacrimation , treating , ameliorate , and fertilizing , with …

Gold Hostas

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be careful when you enter the backyard of garden designer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re likely to trip on something , but because you might be dive - flunk by a couple …