The enduring appeal of hostas

Hostas are, without a doubt, one of my favorite perennials. I love Rudbeckia and Monarda as much as the next person, but there is something to be said for a plant that looks good all through the season, even when it’s not in bloom. The Hosta genus is so incredibly diverse – it’s no surprise that its popularity endures year after year.

To say Hostas are diverse is an understatement; when you think of all the textures, sizes, and color combinations that this genus comprises, you can truly find a Hosta to suit any shady site. One of my favorite large Hostas is the PW variety ‘Empress Wu’. It will take a few years to reach its full size, but once it does it will certainly become a focal point in the landscape. While we consider some Hostas to be two-year plants here, we can plant ‘Empress Wu’ in April and it will reliably fill the pot by mid to late summer.

There are so many variegated Hostas to choose from, but one of my favorite blue and yellow varieties is ‘Frances Williams’. The huge corrugated leaves give the plant a tough appearance, but they also create an interesting color and texture combination. The yellow/chartreuse edges are often only a sliver when we send them out in the pots, but the yellow margin usually gets much wider as the plant matures.

There is no question that our top-selling Hosta is consistently ‘Patriot’, but when I think of green and white variegated Hostas I actually tend to prefer ‘Minuteman’. Both are sports of ‘Francee’, but I like the vigor that ‘Minuteman’ exhibits for us early on, as we wait for ‘Patriot’ to more slowly fill out. The green of ‘Minuteman’ seems to me to be brighter green, and the white is brighter white, making the color contrast even more striking on this variety (in my opinion).

You can’t talk about Hostas and not mention ‘Guacamole’. Like ‘Sum and Substance’, ‘Guacamole’ takes on a more golden tone when exposed to more sunlight. I love the glossy shine of the foliage and the fragrant flowers. ‘Guacamole’ is one of the earliest of our Hostas to start emerging in the spring.

It only follows that ‘Stained Glass’, a sport of ‘Guacamole’, is another of my favorites. Like ‘Guacamole’, it can tolerate a little more sun and has a similarly vigorous growth habit. However, the foliage of ‘Stained Glass’ is brighter gold, and the variegation is a little more pronounced with prominent green venation throughout the leaves. The bright yellow of ‘Stained Glass’ always catches my eye when I am walking through the perennial blocks, and it has the same effect in the landscape.

Some of the curly-leaved hostas, like ‘Curly Fries’ and ‘Praying Hands’, are unique, but can be difficult for us to produce in a pot. But the PW variety ‘Wheee!’ has really impressed us since we started growing it a few years ago. The foliage is ruffled from the moment is starts to emerge from dormancy and makes for a very distinctive look. Although it stays relatively short, ‘Wheee!’ is extremely vigorous and grows into a sizeable plant in no time.

There are so many more Hostas we could talk about, and there are so many more that we would grow if we had unlimited space. I didn’t even mention some of the new varieties we tried last year, like ‘Etched Glass’ or ‘Diamond Lake’, that we had success with. Whatever your favorite Hosta varieties are, I think we can all agree that they are some of the most diverse and trouble-free perennials that you can grow.