Thursday, May 20, 2010

Hosta


I like hosta, especially this time of year. In May the leaves are still perfect. No tears or holes from wind and slugs. No brown sunburned edges.


In August, I would happily waive my magic wand and have all the battered and tattered leaves disappear until next May.


Most of my hosta were give to me by friends and family.


I never knew their names and I'm not enough of a hosta fancier to worry over not knowing.



I like the ones with blended colors like a water color painting.



And the ones with textured, crinkled leaves.


The more white the better.


This was my first hosta. Very old fashioned and common.

38 comments:

Susie said...

I like them too Marnie! Sum and Substance is a favorite. I love how big it gets.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Oh yes, you have a nice collection of these beauties. The slugs and snails are already after mine. WHINE~~ I have one of those that you call the old fashioned kind. I think they are so pretty. I also have an old variety with no particular color, just green. It has the most heavenly flower that has a beautiful fragrance. Truly the plaintain Lily of the past.

Louise said...

I love them, also, but I must be one of the few people in the world who has little luck with them. They come up, they leaf out, they bloom, but they don't increase. Someone recently told me to mulch them with leaf mould, so I'm going to try that.

I love the one growing in the middle of the woodruff.

walk2write said...

I can actually grow hostas here in Florida along the north wall of the house. You know, I've actually read that some people don't like the flowers on them when they bloom. What's not to like? Yours are beautiful, and it really doesn't matter that they don't have names. They were wonderful gifts.

D said...

Hi Marnie, Lovely collection of hosta: the one emerging from the bed of sweet woodruff is lovely.

I am fond of blue ones in combination with a yellow variety, but especially like the green and white... very dramatic I think. Hope you are having a wonderful week.

Heather at Dusty Bay said...

Oh I like the last pic of the hosta - quite striking! I see that your Sweet Woodruff has really spread too.

Northern Shade said...

My favourite Hosta are the ones with a bit of white on them. In the shadows, they look like dappled sunlight, and they add a little sparkle. Also, I love the ones with a quilted texture. They pair so nicely with plants that have a more delicate leaf texture, like your woodruff.

Dawn said...

Marnie, Have you had to move a hosta? We moved one last Saturday and my goodness! We ended up with 8 from one.
I have 2 small hostas that have the white and I can't wait until they are huge.

Darla said...

What a wonderful assortment of Hosta you have here. I also like them.

Racquel said...

I love Hostas too Marnie. And I can relate to how great they look now compared to the end of summer when they've been road hard & put away wet as the saying goes. ;) You have a wonderful variety in your garden and I love the one peaking through the sea of Sweet Woodruff. That is one of my favorite groundcovers for shade. :)

BeadedTail said...

You have a lovely variety of hostas! I didn't realize there were so many kinds of them until I looked up how to care for them and realized I might be in over my head. I planted 6 hostas a couple of weeks ago in a big spot we have under a huge shade tree. I hope they make it!

tina said...

You echoed my sentiments exactly. The hostas are so pretty this month and come August it is like time for a change and new plants. Can you work on finding that magic wand for us all? You displayed yours so nice! That second one is my favorite due to the crinkles but the whites ones are great too.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

I love Hosta also, Marnie. And believe it or not (ha), I do not know their names either!!!! I don't have the variety that you have --but I do have a few different ones around the yard. Maybe I'll take some pictures to share also one of these days --before they don't look good anymore....

Great pictures.
Hugs,
Betsy

Manuela@A Cultivated Nest said...

I like them too! You're right, right now they're so perfect before the slugs find them! I actually have some Hosta that I've been meaning to divide and move.

Manuela

Laura said...

This is my first visit and I already have questions.

Do hostas grow in shade?

Laura
White Spray Paint

Cheryl said...

Hi Marnie......You have a wonderful collection of hosta's. They add wonderful texture to a border.

I agree towards the end of the season they do start to look tatty.
Wind and slugs are a problem here.......although the slugs are behaving at the moment, probably due to the fact there are a lot of frogs in the garden.

Kay said...

Very unusual leaves. Don't think I've ever seen any like those here in SoCal.

Kay

Morning Glories in Round Rock said...

A wonderful collection of Hostas, Marnie. I have them on my wish list--I think I should move them to the top of the list. The varigated coloration is so appealing. The texture shows so much movement and motion...I am smitten.

Rose said...

I love hostas, too, Marnie, and you have captured the beauty of their leaves so well here. You really have a nice variety. I've kept the tags of a couple new ones I've bought in recent years, but otherwise the only one I can name is 'Sum and Substance.' Of course, it's hard not to miss it:) The rest of mine are either passalongs or cheapies, and they've been divided so often I've lost track.

Gail said...

Marnie, The hosta leaves emerging in the sweet woodruff is a lovely spring scene. I've found one that survives my dry soil "Gaucamole"~it's not a white trimmed one like you like, but it's perfect for humid summers. gail

sweetbay said...

The leaves really do look like watercolor paintings. Beautiful especially coming up in the Sweet Woodruff. I have only one, from my grandmother, with plain green leaves and very fragrant white flowers.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

You have so many pretty Hostas. I love the ones with the crinkled leaves. All of yours look so nice and no holes in the leaves, the slugs keep finding mine.
I don't know the name of any of my Hostas either, and that's fine with me too :)

Q said...

My hosta were all pass alongs too.
My gardens are very old and the hosta just keep getting bigger and bigger. I have divided them many times and passed along lots of plants...hosta are wonderful. Yours look great.
Sherry

joey said...

So lovely, Marnie. I adore hosta and, like you, have many. Actually, your garden could be mine, including the sea of sweet woodruff!

garden girl said...

I love them, and have a few varieties that have made several moves with me. Hostas are the ultimate passalong plant!

troutbirder said...

Perfectly stated. Same reasons for why too love them. They gave me hope and courage that I could have shady gardens that really amounted to something. :)

Sherri said...

I love my hostas this time of year too! You have some beauties!! Enjoy while they are blemish free!

Dee @ Red Dirt Ramblings said...

I don't the names of most of my hostas either. Mine are gifts and inexpensive ones I bought. They are beautiful right now and none are more beautiful than yours.~~Dee

marmee said...

hello marnie,

i had never heard of hostas until i moved to tn and now i have grown to really appreciate them. they had a foundational element to the garden. you have a nice collection. i just planted woodruff for the first time this spring...it is great to see yours looking so lush.

you asked for the secret to loving to mow? not sure what it is but i have always liked doing it.
my dad did it when i was young and i liked being outdoors with him.
my husband used to carry the boys on his shoulders when we lived in fl and mow...what a great sight that was.
now that we live on acerage i just love getting on my tractor and putting my ipod on my lastest playlist and just having the solitude. sometimes i feel quilty because my hubby wanted the tractor so much and now he rarely gets on it. he says it make him happy to see me enjoying myself so much.
happy may.

Chloe m said...

Since Deer love Hosta, I don't even attempt them. But I do get pleasure out of seeing your healthy specimens!

Thanks for supporting Kiki and visiting her blog. You are a sweety!

Unseen India Tours said...

These are so beautiful shots !!I really love and appreciate them !!Beauty all around !!!

Pat said...

Hey...have you been in my yard ?
Lots of same hostas. Gotta love them till' bugs start eating.
Still... months of beautiful foliage.

Anonymous said...

Gardeners always tell you that you should love hostas, but like you, I only like them now! Soon they will be tattered and torn, and I'll wonder what everyone sees in them.

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

I like the large, rugged leaf kind--they look so prehistoric and go really well with ferns. I've never paid for any hosta--all mine are divisions, and of course I don't have the kind I really prefer, lol.

Naturegirl said...

I agree they do look so lush early in the season and the tattered dry edges ruin their look. I have now started to cut off the not so perfect leaves..always new ones coming up. I also love to place Hosta leaves in vases and place around the house!

Kathleen said...

Great variety Marnie. I like them too although I only have two kinds. One had gotten enormous and suffered a lot from sun damage last year (from the aspen tree dieback) so I actually divided it this spring and got four divisions from that one plant. They are all doing well so far which makes me happy. I don't have much of a slug problem but the hail and wind tear them up here.

oldcrow61 said...

Your hostas are beautiful. My one hosta is just poking up out of the ground. Our seasons are so short...sigh!

Raised garden beds said...

They are simply stunning. Your hostas are quite healthy and green. They are perfect stunner amidst the garden.