My love of the lowly Hosta.
It didn’t begin this way. Our first home was a townhouse in Germantown, Maryland. The person we bought it from had some hostas out front; not in shade, but right out in the hot sun.
At that time, my knowledge of plants of any kind was very basic. I planted annuals for many years in a flower bed as a child. We had a garden for quite a while. I climbed in an amazing Silver Maple tree that I wish I could transplant.
This was about the extent of my plant knowledge.
However, this was going to forever change as we rearranged some things in our postage stamp sized yard and cleaned it up a bit. Those were the days. Double income, no kids. (DINKs, right?) A wee yard that a manual push mower mowed on a very regular basis. Although we did spend a lot of time studying for continuing educational pursuits as well as what seemed a never-ending list of home repairs. (My mother (my much appreciated, dedicated, editor) wants me to be clear here — I would NOT trade the kids for the old days!)
However, in those first few years, I did not like the hostas that lived in our yard. They were always dried out and looked pretty bad. For some reason, when we moved, I dug up some and brought a plant along to what was our temporary-living apartment balcony. Those were NOT the days…. We were so crammed in that we could only sit on our couch! However, we did have a nice little balcony, with a resident squirrel, of which I now realize, was just a little foreshadowing of what was to come – dealing with wildlife amidst growing some of their favorite foods, namely young trees, and vegetables! And, on this balcony our hosta lived, along with some seedling maple trees and other various things, occasionally offering themselves up as lunch for the resident squirrel.
Finally, we were able to move into our current home. (No reason to go into all the stories that go along with that….) At that point, I soon planted that hosta. That fall, along with striking a huge deal on blueberry plants for $1 at Lowes, I purchased a huge hosta for $1. This, my friends, was where my love of the lowly hosta began. The first spring we had it planted here, it grew like crazy. It was just spectacular. Then, I purchased a few more and added those to the collection that you see here. I do not like to spend a lot of money on plants or trees, and honestly, I do not think I spent more than $10 or $15 for all you see here.
Here are some things I have noticed about hosta, and why you might want to consider adding them to your landscaping!
- Hostas come in an amazing rainbow of the color green! Truly, you will be amazed at all the different colors of green!
- Hostas love shade. I can appreciate this, because in the middle of the summer, I love the shade too! So many plants love sun, but this plant needs just a little.
- Hostas can easily be divided. This makes for sharing! I just love that I have plants from so many special people in my life! (You know who you are:-)) Dividing a hosta is pretty simple. You can do it with a big spade and just cut the plant in half, or cut off a part that you want to transplant. The $1 hosta I spoke of is now four in our mulch bed. (plus what I have given away from this one plant) Early spring, when the plants are just beginning to grow, seems to be the best time to transplant or divide them. If you wait until it is warmer, they will not do very well in their first season.
- Beware!!!! Deer love these. It is one of their favorite foods. We have been VERY blessed that the deer seem to only come this close to the house in the winter time, mainly to eat the holly and azalea.
- Hostas die back to the ground each fall. You will almost forget they are there until spring comes.
- Water will help them in the summer months. Even in the shade, water them when it is hot to keep them looking their best. However, even if you don’t, they will still look nice the following spring!