Hosta plants for the UK garden, care, growing notes and varieties for sale

Great foliage plants Hostas are a shade loving garden plant grown for their attractive leaves. With over 50 species and literally 100s of cultivars available for sale they provide great opportunities for the landscape gardener to add texture and color to the shade garden. We include a few pictures to whet your appetite.

The main attraction is the texture and fantastic pattern of the foliage, from deep blue green heavily textured plants to finer lime green leaves with white or golden variegation, see picture right. Although they do flower as well, an added interest. Hosta ventricosa is the 'blue plantain lily'.

Hosta 'Sum and Substance' is a large variety and Princess Wu is even bigger, so if you are looking for large leaves these two are worth seeking.

Some have gold or white edges while others are green with splashes of yellow inside or the reverse. Flowers are attractive and perfumed and range from white through to purple depending on species and cultivars.

When planting hostas choose a position which gets plenty of shade, especially in the afternoon, ours grow where they get some morning sun but this goes quickly and they are in dappled to fairly deep shade in the afternoon.

Growing Notes and Care

And what about the snails and slugs that seem to love these leaves. Start by watering in the early morning so that the soil dries out by night, remove any rubbish where snails and slugs like to hide in the daytime, this is the prevention bit. Go on a snail hunt at night with a torch, collect the little critters and dispose of them. Set some snail and slug traps, cardboard or newspaper tubes, slightly damp, the snails and slugs will make these home, and you can just remove the trap and dispose of it. Use a beer trap, fresh beer every day please.
The varieties with the heavily textured leaves are less attractive to sn ails than others.

Hosta care is not really difficult, in winter they will go dormant, a good tome to clean up and remove any pests that have escaped your traps. Hostas can be divided early in late winter to early spring, clumps are best divided every 3-4 years to promote excellent growth.
Can you grow hostas from seed, yes but seed from hybrids will not come true, but worth a go, you never know what you might produce.