Please help me
I have been gardening with walls and fenches and only a very short hedge. Clematis and climbing roses have helped me most places.
I gave up gardening against the hedge and made a bench area in front of it... Ligustrum it is
now at my new place there are trees/ scrubs borders and a long border with ligustrum... I will do a patch in bricks in front of it... just do not know the with... 1 foot, 2 foot or ...?
The ligustrum is nice and green all way up, so I do not think the new neighbourg is readdy to give it up.... way to popular here
We even call our suburbans the ligustrum areas
Then there is the designing question... what to plant in between hostas ?
I have daylillies, but they need a lot of space, so what will you plant in between hostas to give color, slim and with some hight
Springbulbs do I have plenty of... mid late summer is the task
Pleas nothing wich need to be tired up to something... strong plants
Pia
Against stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain.
E-mail for pics hostapics@gmail.com
My hosta garden has a lot of companion plants, including just about as many different kinds of ferns I can try out, plus some Pulmonaria, Astilbe, bugbane (Cimicifuga or now called Actaea), Jack-in-the-pulpit, bleeding hearts, Epimedium, Lamium, lamiastrum, and then of course more hostas
I've also tried some Ligularia, but my garden doesn't have enough moisture for those. At the outer edges where it is a little more sun I have Oriental lilies, daylilies, fall mums. Oh, I also have Kerria japonica in a couple spots, and some dwarf Korean lilac.
Right now my favorite companions are the Actaea (formerly called Cimicifuga). They look great this time of year, and give the garden some vertical interest.
My companion list is similar to Chris' - I'd also add (in no particular order...)
On the small side, like a small hosta and forming the same perfect circular plant, is Dwarf Aruncus. The regular aruncus - goatsbeard - is a tall and somewhat gangly plant in low light and really needs to be staked to hold up well in my garden. Dwarf goatsbeard, on the other hand, forms the neatest little mound of incredibly tiny, neat, serated leaves. Its blooming is not very showy - like a tiny astible that blooms in early summer - but I think it should be in every shadehosta garden, used as a specimen at the front of the border in several places to contrast with the hostas.
Brunnera (Alkanet, Leatherleaf) - there are some great new varieties, provide some of the same benefits as pulmonaria but also gives us great clouds of forget-me-not flowers above the foliage in early spring.
Martagon lilies - these really fit Pia's wish for tall without great girth plants. The martagons are shade lilies, true woodland lilies with lovely whorled foliage and, when mature, many many turk's-turban lily flowers.
Kirengeshoma (Korean Waxbells) - these are fabulous and amazingly underused companions. The bloom in late summer and thrive in deep shade. They actually grow better in shade than in bright light. the leaves are somewhat mapleleaf-shaped and get a silvery "bloom" on them which, like the cimicifugas, give a great foliage contrast to the hostas.
Rogersia - if you've got the room... great huge horsechestnut-like leaves with reddish brown highlights and "hairs" as well... extremely jungle-like look... perfect for your Jurassic Park planting.
Kalimeris (Ghengis Khan Aster) - the old standard, K. mongolica is a 3-4' tall plant with tiny aster flowers in late summer - the foliage is very thin delicate leaves... nice contrast to hostas. There is a newer variegated variety called "Shogun" that has nice, showy foliage all summer and gets the small aster flowers in summer. These are spreaders, but easily restrained.
Speaking of asters, the small asters... Aster novae-belgii, for example, do well in lower light conditions and form a dense mound that is covered in flowers in late summer. My A n-b 'Alert' is simply stunning right now.
As you can see, I like plants that will give me color and flowers to enjoy when my hostas are well past their peak. One more in this category, and maybe my best suggestion for Pia... Chelone. Turtlehead are quite happy in low-light conditions. Mine just started to bloom last week - and in Minnesota, this is the very end of our gardening season. The old standard is Chelone lyonii... 3 feet tall, excellent dark green toothed foliage all summer, then a myriad of rose pink blooms late in the season when all the other plants are going dormant. For a shorter plant, 18-24", with a little earlier bloom time, look for the selection Chelone lyonii 'Hot lips' - Pia, I think this is one that belongs amongst your hostas.
And about ferns... I have maybe 10 varieties and I'm constantly fighting back the spread of some of them, like Ostrich Fern. One variety stands out, in my mind, for combining with hostas. Maidenhair fern has finely-cut foliage held up on wirey bare stems... great contrast for hostas, and can be kept in a neat colony.
I'm sure I missed some - but these are the ones that popped into my mind as favorites.
Of the 25 Hibiscus 'Peppermint Schnapps' I got, only 4 grew. You have one, I have three. One of mine has also started to bloom and I'm very pleased - good to see yours survived and has added to your "drinking team" theme!
BTW - folks, this is is just the way it looks - no enrichment or alteration of the color...
My gardens sound a lot like Chris'! I also add Heucheras (lots!!! ;^), Pulmonarias, Primroses, Japanese painted ferns, Centaurea montana, Lobelia cardinalis, Trollius, Valerian officianalis ... trying to think what's out there (it's dark out. lol!)... I like to add a few impatiens for a ton of color too.
~~~ Audrey ~~~
“If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good”
Dr. Seuss
Foxgloves (Digitalis) for mid-season flowers and Monkshoods(Aconitum) for late summer and fall.
Of the suggestions above, I have found Lamiastrum, Kerria, some Cimicifugas, Kalimeris, Ostrich Fern (Matteucia struthiopteris) and Centaurea to be invasive to an unacceptable degree. Valerian also self-seeds all over the place and has become an all-season nuisance. I know I could avoid that by deadheading, but there is so much to do here...
Viktoria
Many a great tune has been played on an older fiddle.
Ajuga is a wonderful companion plant / ground cover. I am enjoying growing several different varieties of ajuga from the dwarf 'chocolate chip' to the big dark purple-black 'Burgandy Glow' ones plus the variegated one that is cream, pink, and burgandy, & ofcourse, there is the little green ones.
AND - Perilla 'Magilla' & perilla 'Fantasy' are wonderful in partial shade to nearly full sun.
AND - coelus of all shapes & sizes are wonderful companion plants in the ground or in pots. AND begonias of all colors & pansies & violas.
AND - periscaria of all sorts are beautiful foliage plants but are very self-seeding. I tried to cut off all the seed heads this year or there are tons to 'weed'-out the next year.
And (Pig Squeak) - Bergenia is different and fun and stays green almost year around in zone 5.
And - Sweet Woodruff is fun. It can be a bit assertive but pulls easily.
And - Dwarf Pumbago (Ceratostigma) is wonderful and the flowers are so blue, they just glow.
There are so many plants that showcase hostas well. As you mentioned spring bulbs are good but tulips are a problem here due to the deer population.
Tulips are problematic here.... due to the fungus they carry
Plumbago... oh ... it is the color of the bluest sky
Changes here... the landscape gardener could not take the Wild Things down from the garden side only and left a big hole, so I went the rough way and asked for mostly every thing to be pulled of.... an 18 feet hole or 3 time the size.... dosn't matter at all, it need a fence ( I am Danish) so up every thing went exept for an new and an old oak and 2 sour cherry trees... darn it is open now
good news, my hosta friend/ becomming a real friend... think he is the most knoowledged practical hosta person here, offerd to dig up and replant my hostas
I would never have asked him that favor, but am more than happy having him by my side
So exept for the rain drips in the living room and the bed room.. problem have to be solved... I am in gooooood hands
Pia
Against stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain.
E-mail for pics hostapics@gmail.com
IMHO ferns are the best companions plants for hostas. Japanese fern is awesome! ...also Christmas fern.
Of course red or pink or white astilbes provide excellent companions.
Pia,
I have self-sowing nicotiana growing among my hosta beds, and really appreciate the late-season flowers and fragrance. They take a while to grow, and by the time the hostas are past their peak, the nicotiana is just starting to bloom. They keep going through the first several frosts as well, so even after the hostas are going down, the nicotiana is still pretty. Did I mention fragrance?
I also have ferns, lady's mantle, several ajuga varieties, and of course heuchera and tiarella. Solomon seal is lovely with the hostas, both the plain green and variegated, but I do have to thin it out from time to time.
Linda P
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
If you are looking for something spiky and grass-like that will tolerate some shade, I recommend variegated carex Ice Dance. I like as an edger along the path through my hosta. I am on the line between zone 4 and 5 here and this carex seems perfectly hardy. It does get good drainage (sandy to loamy soils).
I discovered grasses last summer and I love them. Pennisetum Read Head, Karly Rose, carex MIlk chocolate, Toffee Twist, Red Rooster are ones that come to mind. i love the colors on these and one called Elijah Blue is gorgeous.
Pardon me if someone mentioned this in earlier posts, but I would also recommend Japanese forest grass -- Hakonechloa macra, for slightly more sunny areas, maybe along a path or stream. The gold and green variegated variety (forget the exact name, Aureola?) is very nice planted among blue and green hostas. It grows about a foot high and spreads several feet wide. I have some doing quite nicely in a southern exposure, so it seems to do well over quite a range of light conditions.
I also started adding brunnera, ferns, pulmonaria, ligularia, and lots of heuchera this year.
