It all began with an innocuous little green plant. When I began trading plants with people via the Internet, I had no idea that it would be the beginning of a serious, serious addiction.
Two years ago I began dabbling in ornamental plants, which was a break from my usual vegetable gardening. One plant that found its way into my back yard was Hosta ‘Honeybells’, of which I knew absolutely nothing. Then H. ‘Hyacinthina’ arrived, another mysterious green-leafed perennial. Next I bought H. ‘Frances Williams’ and H. ‘Patriot’ from Naylor Creek at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. I didn’t recognize the signs of addiction at this point, but family and friends began wondering what was happening to me. It’s been a loosing battle ever since. I have been bitten by the hosta bug, and I’ve also managed to spread the disease to my six-year-old twin girls, much to my husband’s dismay.
What started out as a few pretty shade plants early last year has turned into 90 hosta varieties and counting, many of which belong to my children. After trading for more and more hostas, I began scouring catalogs and websites, and going out of my way to find local nurseries that carried more than a few common varieties of hostas and shade plants. My mail carrier finally asked me why I receive so many packages, and now that she knows they are plants she carefully tucks any packages into a shady spot by the front door to stay cool. This is called enabling the addiction.
My neighbors shake their heads when I come home from nursery hunting with more hostas, wondering where on earth I’ll fit MORE of them. The answer to that minor problem is a sharp flat shovel to tear out more of our lawn (also to my husband’s horror). They wonder exactly what I’m doing outside early in the morning in my pajamas, lugging around a bucket of hot soapy water, digging through my plants picking off Godzilla-sized slugs (that’s what we call them here in the Pacific Northwest). It’s called “slug-patrol”, and is the only part of hosta gardening that my children refuse to participate in.
I’m learning to test the limits of these amazing plants, and so far all is well. We installed an 800-gallon pond this spring, there is something so beautiful about H. ‘August Moon’ and H. ‘So Sweet’ cascading over the edge of the rocks and into the water next to an opening water lily blossom. Even though they are in full sun around the water garden, as long as they are well watered they do fine in our northern climate. I’ve also learned that hosta leaves last a very long time in a vase compared to many other cut flowers, and they add a tropical air to an arrangement of wildflowers. Add a few astilbes into the mix and it’s a guaranteed hit.
The people behind these gorgeous plants are just as wonderful as the plants themselves. I’ve made new friends, both locally and on the Internet, who share my passion for shade gardening. A total stranger sent my girls a package of dwarf hosta varieties after I mentioned on a website that they like to garden. On another occasion I posed a question on an Internet bulletin board about the identity of a hosta I had purchased at a local nursery. I had no idea what it was, but had some guesses. A week later I received a hosta division in the mail with a note attached stating, “This, my dear, is H. ‘Sparkling Burgundy.’ ” Again from a stranger that I’ve never met face to face, but someone who I consider to be a wonderful and generous friend.
There aren’t many other plants that are so easy to care for, divide, and share. A great example of this is when we planted H. ‘Guardian Angel’ and H. ‘Peace’ in memory of my mother. My girls will never know her, but when they grow up and move out on their own, they will each take a division of her ‘Guardian Angel’ and ‘Peace’ with them. Hostas make this possible, but we certainly couldn’t do it with a tree.
My girls are so proud of their hosta collections, and every visitor to our house gets a guided tour of the back yard to see their hostas. They get to smell the intoxicating flowers on that one with the funny name, the one named after the green stuff you eat with chips and salsa (H. ‘Guacamole’). They know more about gardening than many adults I know, and that is certainly something to be proud of.
I’m anxiously waiting for springtime, when I can walk through my new gardens and see all of my hostas peeking out from under the soil. Almost all were small and new last year, it will be exciting to see how they grow and mature this year. If I can keep up with my slug patrols, they should all do fine. I’m contemplating bribing my little hostalettes (a.k.a. children) with money or chocolate to take on this duty, but I’m doubtful that will work. I’m going to buy a headlamp so that I can wear a flashlight on my forehead to free both of my hands for slugging. I’m sure this will confound my neighbors even more…
Even though my husband doesn’t share our passion for hostas (yet), he’s well trained in what to do when a package arrives and I’m not home. He ever so carefully opens it, unwraps the plants, and soaks the roots in a container of cool water in the shade until I get home. There is hope. This coming year we will continue working on him until he can tell the difference between H. ‘Hadspen Blue’ and H. ‘Pacific Blue Edger’, and until he can hardly contain himself when a new catalog arrives in the mail. We’ll pass on this wonderful affliction… we won’t give up until he is bitten by the hosta bug too!
Dr. I.M. Variegated
April 26, 2001
Dr. Lush Foliage
RE: ANDI R.
Dear Dr. Foliage:
Thank you for referring Andi to our psychiatric clinic. She presented today stating that she recently became infected with a disease known as “hostaholicism”. She has been experiencing symptoms suggestive of an addiction and is here for an evaluation. Over the past year, she has noticed increased flowerbeds in her yard, as well as compulsive urges to remove lawn and plant trees. She has also stated that she believes the disease is contagious, as her two children have also experienced symptoms.
Her past medical history is positive for the usual signs of a gardening addict, including Master Gardener training, nursery and garden center trips on a weekly basis, and belonging to 8 Internet gardening groups. She states that the only medication that has worked for her is buying new hostas to relieve symptoms for a short period of time. When the medication wears off, she has a compulsive desire to get another one.
The family history is noncontributory.
On review of her symptoms, I believe that she suffers from a very rare obsessive-compulsive disorder known as “hostaholicism”, or hosta addiction. Her complaints are limited to those described above.
Physical examination revealed a woman in no acute distress. The thyroid was not enlarged and there was no cervical adenopathy. The lungs were clear. The heart rate had a regular rate and rhythm. The extremities revealed traces of garden soil under the fingernails and calluses on the hands, compatible with this type of disease.
I believe she is incurable and the only therapy that may help slightly with her situation is weekly meetings of Hostaholics Anonymous, a new 12-Step Program for patients suffering from this dieasese.
Sincerely,
Dr. I. M. Variegated
IMV/amr
1234 Hosta Lane
Hostaville, WA 99999
P.O. Box 4321
Sumner,, WA 98198-9800
In our northern climate where summers are cooler, hostas can tolerate much more sun than other parts of the country as long as they receive enough moisture through our dry summer months. Generally, fragrant hostas and varieties with golden and chartreuse foliage can tolerate more sun, whereas the darker blue varieties need more shade to maintain their blue coloring. Hostas are hardy to approximately -30°F, and are perfectly hardy in our climate. The only major problem for hostas are slugs, which can be controlled with slug bait or hand-picking them off of plants in late evening or early morning.
Some of the largest varieties, such as the classic Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’, can easily form clumps 8 feet across, while some of the smallest ones can be just inches in diameter, such as the newly introduced H. ‘Awesome’.
As our urban areas are becoming more crowded all the time, the smaller, dwarf hosta varieties are becoming more and more popular. Even gardeners who have an apartment balcony to garden on can choose from a wonderful variety of mini-hostas. They are very easy to grow in containers with a good compost-rich soil mix along with other dwarf shade plants. They blend beautifully with dwarf heucheras, such as Heuchera ‘Petite Ruby Frills’ and Heuchera ‘Petite Pearl Fairy’, and astilbes such as Astilbe glaberrima var. saxatilis, A. ‘Liliput’, or A. ‘Perkeo’.
A very popular dwarf hosta variety is H. ‘Baby Bunting’, with matte-finish green heart-shaped leaves with pale lavender flowers. There are several sports of H. ‘Baby Bunting’, the most popular is probably H. ‘Pandora’s Box’ with fantastic white-centered leaves. H. ‘Cherish’ has a yellow center and H. ‘Hope’ has yellow edges on green-centered leaves.
Other dwarf hostas are ‘Munchkin’, ‘Lemon Lime’, ‘Cat’s Eyes’, ‘Mack The Knife’, ‘Blue Ice’, ‘Cheatin Hart’, ‘Chartreuse Wiggles’, ‘Shiny Penny’, ‘Popo’, ‘Pooh Bear’, ‘Tiny Tears’, ‘Dew Drop’, ‘Feather Boa’, 'Kifukurin Ko Mame' and H. ‘Uzo-no-Mai’. Any of the hostas in the Tiara group such as H. ‘Golden Tiara’ and ‘Diamond Tiara’ are considered small hostas, not mini’s, and are very good growers for a container garden. Another fantastic smaller hosta, but not necessarily a dwarf, is H. ‘Little Sunspot’, which has green edged leaves with extremely bright yellow centers, guaranteed to brighten up a dark corner or balcony.
Many people ask about hostas. Hostas and daylilies are the two top-selling perennials in the country. There are approximately 4000 registered varieties of hostas, and hundreds more are added every year. The newer introductions are always more expensive and hard to find. When people want to add hostas to their shade gardens, I recommend the more common, easy to find, and less expensive varieties (unless they’re obsessive collectors like I am!). Every year the American Hosta Society takes a survey of member’s top 20 favorite hostas, and every year the list includes mainly hostas that have been around for decades and have proven their worth in the garden. These are the varieties commonly sold in local nurseries. The main problems with hostas are slugs and snails, which can be controlled with slug baits or the newer, non-toxic slug baits which contain iron phosphate and are completely safe around people and pets.
For drier shady areas, I like to recommend Epimedium and Lamium. Lamium (common name: deadnettle) is in the mint family and does spread, but it is very easy to control by pulling it out where you don’t want it to grow. Lamium is an evergreen groundcover, about 6-10” high. Many types have a silvery color to their leaves that can really brighten up a dark, dry, shady area. They have either white or pink flowers in springtime.
Epimediums (common name: barrenwort) are more recently being recognized as excellent garden plants. They originate from Asia and can be used like a groundcover in drier shade areas. All have interesting small flowers with spurs (they look spider-like) in a rainbow of colors: white, yellow, orange, pink, or purple. Many have burgundy tones on the leaves in spring and again with the cooler weather in the fall. Some form clumps and some spread, though none are invasive like some ground covers can be. The evergreen species include E. x perralchium, E. pinnatum, and E. versicolor.
Hellebores (common name: Lenten rose, Christmas rose) have recently become very popular, and for good reason. These are the plants that get us through our gloomy, rainy Northwest winters. There are many types of species and cultivars in a variety of colors and shapes. Almost all bloom in winter and early spring, with the blossoms lasting for months. Most are also evergreen, though many people cut back the old foliage in January when new growth begins to appear in order to better enjoy the flowers. The flowers do face down, but they do that in order to protect their pollen since they bloom during the rainy season. One of the main problems with Hellebores can be black spot on the leaves. If black areas appear on the foliage or flowers, cut the leaf or flower off at the stem and throw the entire stem away.
Brunneras have become more popular in recent years. These are excellent shade perennials that like the same conditions that hostas do. An added bonus is that slugs won’t touch them. The leaves are heart-shaped and are covered with tiny, fine hairs. Most varieties have mint-green leaves with a silver overlay, which can really brighten up a dark area. They produce hundreds of tiny, sky-blue flowers that look exactly like forget-me-nots. Mine usually blooms on and off for several months beginning in March and lasting part way through summertime. The most common variety (and one of the showiest) is Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’. I can’t say enough good things about this plant… it’s excellent! Cut back the foliage in wintertime for a new flush of growth in late winter or early spring.
Pulmonarias (common name: lungwort) are another of my favorite shade garden plants, and another plant that slugs don’t bother. The plant forms a nice clump of long, velvety green leaves, usually covered with silver spots. The flowers appear in late winter or early spring. Most flowers are pink, purple, or blue. Some change colors so that pink and purple flowers are on one plant at the same time. These plants can take drier conditions, though I wouldn’t consider them to be completely drought tolerant. If the foliage begins to look ratty, simply cut the plant to the ground and it will send out a new flush of fresh foliage.
Other ideas for shade plants include astilbes, ligularias, arisaemas, hardy cyclamen, hardy geraniums, primulas, ferns, heucheras, tiarellas, and trilliums.
Email : Andi AT hostacrazy DOT com