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Hostas display 6" -48" wide mounds of lancelike to board, long-stemmed leaves in green, white, yellow, and bluish solid colors and variegations. Trumpet-shaped flowers, sometimes fragrant but often not very showy, are borne on stalks above the leaves. Hosta fortunei, Fortune's hosta, grows into a clump 2'-3' tall and wide of 5"-6" oval leaves. Zones 3-8.
H. plantaginea, August lily, hold 6" sweetly fragrant white trumpets 2' above bold, 8" light green leaves on 3' wide clumps in late summer. Zones 3-8.
H. sieboldiana, Siebold's or seersucker hosta, bears quilted bluish 1' leaves on 2'-3' mounds up to 4' wide. Zones 3-8.
Grow H. ventricosa, blue hosta, for its 3" hanging violet bells on 3' stalks above rich green, 8" leaves in 2' wide mounds. Zones 3-8.
Growing guide Plant or divide hostas in spring or fall. They prefer partial shade and moist, well-drained soil with some organic matter. Some can take full sun in the North if kept moist. Yellow and blue-leaved cultivars color better if given morning sun. Some older cultivars of Fortune's hosta and blue hosta withstand very dry soil and deep shade. Slugs and snails can chew holes in emerging leaves in spring; otherwise, hostas are easy, tough plants.
Landscape uses: Grow in groups or, with showy cultivars, as specimens. Hostas cover dying bulb foliage and lighten up dark, shady areas under trees and corners.
