Hostas remind me of my practical grandmother's home. She had her priorities, and gardening wasn't one of them. She lined the driveway with hostas, added a nice hydrangea bush at the side of her brick porch steps, and then a row of peonies down the shady side of her house. In a small yard, this was the best solution, because these plantings were virtually maintenance free.

After Grandma died, I transplanted a hosta from her row near the driveway for memory's sake. These hostas have been virtually maintenance free, and though not a special variety, they made a statement with a lingering procession of shiny foliage. In July or August, they faithfully bloomed out stalks of trumpet like flowers dangling all pale purple in a row.

Since then, I started to notice more varieties, and still have not come upon an end to them. The growth pattern all starts from the center, bursting out into a nice mound of elliptical shaped foliage. The colors of the leaves can vary from lime green to dusky gray-green, to an emerald green like my grandma's heritage variety. The leaves can have a striped pattern of veins, or they can be what is called seersucker pattern. The color of the flowers is limited to white, and shades of purple. With varying sizes the flower and stalk are also different. A lot of gardeners remove the flowers in order to accent the sculptural qualities.

Hostas love to grow in shade, and are irrefutably a useful and elegant addition to a shade garden. They can be arranged in mass plantings, or rows, or used as a focal point amongst other shade lovers. One variety that I saw in a nursery catalog hybridized with velvety leaves would definitely be a good focal point.

Hostas like a lot of water. Though they survive drought quite well, they are much happier when well watered. They don't really have too many problems with insects. The slugs, and snails like to munch holes in the leaves. To discourage these creeping creatures, add a ring of pine bark nuggets around the hostas. The resin on the pine nuggets discourages these hungry, crawling invaders.

Any hosta lover who visits Ohio might take a tour through Bellville in the south central region. A nursery there specializing in Hostas features a great tour of their gardens and suggestions for designs. Enter Wade&Gatton Nurseries.com to read the raves and find directions to see their enchanting place. The trip would be well worth it, because of the rolling hills and beautiful scenic forests. The actual site is http://www.wadegardens.com/. They will have the fall collection of Hostas posted soon.

Learn more about this author, Carol G.
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