Growing Hosta: Number 8 in a Garden Photo Series

Or it might have leaves as tiny as a mouse's ear! Either way, you can enjoy growing hosta indoors or out.

It is an easy plant to take care of in your home or garden and it will multiply quickly, giving you many plants to use and share in return for a home at your house!

This spring’s weather has been a little sneaky. With an unseasonably cool start, our southern spring enticed us outdoors for a several weeks, and gave us some extra time with early season plants.

My hosta sprouted its tips extra early giving me a chance to decided whether to move some of them before summer set in. Then, like a bandit, a heat wave hit, stopping spring in its tracks and robbing us of comfortable days and nights.

What to do about the hosta that had gone from cold to hot overnight?!

The heat spurred fast growth and blooms in summer plants. Even my black-eyed Susans have been blooming for 2 weeks now, and some of my fall mums are beginning to bud! Needless to say, we’ve also had tremendous growth in our vines and shrubs.

Heavy plant growth this early could take all my time but I have other projects so I am letting everything but watering go for a while. Our cat loves having her own mini jungle to prowl around in and some cool overhangs to stretch out in during the heat of the day. She has surprised more than human visitors, and I think I’ve seen her smile a time or two.

Anyway, all the early growth is giving me a chance to consider some areas I want to expand. I’ve started some work in a large sunny island, but there are a couple of reasons I’m thinking of the work I need to do on a similar-sized shade island near it. The increased heat is an obvious and practical reason, but the others are just as important.

Certain hosta can take some direct light, but we lost a tree that provided shade to one stand I planted. These plants are now getting too much sun and really should be moved to my shade island. I’ve been learning about other varieties of this delightful plant and I see that some new varieties of shade hosta would provide more interest to my garden.

Besides that, I already have some of the companion plants recommended for a hosta garden. After learning more about the colors of other plants that grow well with shade hosta I think I need to increase the kinds I grow together. Having more diverse types of plants will enhance the outdoor living area that I am planning to rework.

The beauty of hosta’s foliage brings a sense of serenity to a garden space, and the blooms dance in a breeze as if their brief life is everything the world needs. I love my variegated and my solid ones equally for each is rich with foliage and bloom color. It’s going to be difficult to choose from all the varieties that are now available.

This shade island has a good-sized seating area and when I get it reworked I plan to post a hub about the process and the result. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my photos. As I was taking the last shots of my hosta they were a little shy. The conversation went something like this:

“Hello, my darlings. Thank you so much for holding on to your lovely blooms in this muggy heat.”

“Oh...you brought your camera again? Um, maybe this isn’t the best time for a photo op. We are rather stressed, you know. It’s been kind of a bad hair day. You can see that we’re sunburnt, as well, and just listen to that thunder coming close...you might get struck by lightening. Wouldn’t you like to wait until next spring when our new address is under the crepes?”

“Sweet hostas, I won’t be long. You are very beautiful, even though it is very hot. Do you know that your soft fragrance is mixing with Mrs. Gardenia’s heady blooms in a most delightful manner. If you don’t mind too much, I just want to take a few more pictures to put with my hub so other people can enjoy the progress of your growth this year.”

“All right then, we know you’ll put us in our best light, but please, do explain that we have been overtaxed lately.”

“Of course I will, dear ones, and believe me, my readers understand all too well about overtaxation!”

I’ve only recently begun to think more seriously about photography. The discovery that the closeup interaction with blooming plants is a wonderful chance to enjoy their pure fragrance has given me some truly breathtaking moments. If for no other reason, you might like to try photographing blooms close up so you, too, can enjoy whiffs of dense fragrance.

Capturing the swan-like shape of the bloom stem is something I want to try again. The close up of the blooms isn’t as clear as I would have liked, but the close up of the multicolored leaves is a true representation of the variegation. In real life they look startlingly like a paint by numbers picture.

In Japan hosta are called ururi and are commonly eaten, but be careful if you plan to do so. While hosta are edible, they must be grown with that in mind. In other words, grown without common lawn pesticides, or other undesirables for your dinner table.

You should also know what part of the particular plant you want to eat is best to prepare as food. The whole leaf of some varieties might be used, while only the shoots or the blooms of another variety would be desirable. Study up before you decide whether to try eating hosta.

Be sure to check out the videos and think through how you can select from the wide assortment that is available this year. No matter how much gardening experience you have, you really can enjoy growing the interesting hosta plant!

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