Help me pick some hostas

[Maddieline]

Hello, this is Maddieline and I am new today and awkward with this entire process so please forgive mistakes. I would like to plant my first hostas ever and need a little advice before I do. Live in northern Michigan so need plants that will look great and grow in this cold climate before the season is done. Any suggestions for plants that tend to be extra hardy and look attractive together? am interested in large plants. Thank you.

[Tigger]

Hello and welcome, Maddieline!

Don't worry about hardiness; we've got people growing hostas in Zone 3. Cover the crowns with a few inches of chopped leaves in the fall, and they should be fine. You'll especially want to protect the new growth in spring if you have a late freeze, but even if that happens, the hostas will recover.

A great starting point in picking your first hostas is to look at the popularity poll from the American Hosta Society (click to go there). In the latest list, most of these are good-sized, even giant, plants. You can cross-reference these with pictures at the Hosta Library, or look at the catalog pictures right here at Hallson Gardens. Almost all hostas go together (and some would say all do), depending on your tastes. (For example, I'm careful about mixing plants with very white edges or centers in with ones with cream edges, since I think that makes the creamy ones look a little dingy.)

David (a.k.a. Tigger)

[newtohosta-no more]

Welcome, Maddieline!

There are sooooooooooooo many great hostas to pick from, so you'll have to let us know what traits you are looking for. Do you prefer the blues, the greens, the variegated ones???? Do you want smooth leaves, corrugated leaves, shiny or dull leaves?
And how large is large, imo? There are some real giants out there! Please check out the sites that Tigger gave you and then post again and give us an idea of what ones suit your tastes and specifications. Then we can all make suggestions , based on our experiences with those specific ones.
And please post your questions in the Hosta Forum , so that more hosta lovers will see your post and be able to chime in with their suggestions and opinions.
Glad to have you here. Hostas are wonderful plants for colder climates. They need that dormant time in the winter, so your location will be great for them.

[kaylyred]

Welcome to the forums, Maddieline! As others have said, there are some great hostas to choose from--tons of them, actually. It's fun to collect the latest and greatest, but as you're looking for hostas remember that some of the tried and true varieties have stood the test of time and are still popular for a reason, so I think my best advice would be to build the backbone of any hosta garden with some of those types. The first few that come to mind for me are 'June,' 'Krossa Regal,' and 'Regal Splendor.' But the list goes on and on and on.

Also, look through this forum. We have quite a few threads talking about our favorites, and if you scan thread titles you're sure to spot some that will lead you to some wonderful recommendations.

[ViolaAnn]

Welcome, Maddieline. Be careful hanging around this group as you will become addicted to hostas in no time at all and we are all enablers.

Good advice above. Spend some time on line looking at pictures and studying the mature characteristics of various varieties. Some of the major nurseries have very good descriptions of various varieties. If you have local sources for hostas, try to determine whether they are aware of HVX and taking steps to ensure their plants are clean - in general, avoid box stores as there is a high incidence of diseased plants. If ordering, you can't go wrong ordering from Chris.

Also if you DO buy plants locally, bear in mind that a mature hosta may have only a slight resemblance to the immature one you purchase.

Finally, have fun with your collection.

Ann

[thy]

Welcome to the forums

Do you hve good soil ?
Hostas are not tender but love a sort of forest soil with lots of compost.

For the first ones I would go with the "Old but Good" - rather cheap too, but beautiful easy hostas.

Do not know where in zone 4 you are, but if up north, the only hostas I wouldn't bye is : plantaginea Venus and Aprodite and Guacamole... they need a good and long summer.

One more thing, when you take your hostas our of a nursery pot - do not cut the roots if tangled, they need to be untangled by hand (and water if needed)
If you live in the States you can be safe bying from Chis.. big plants, extreme roots and tested free of HVX.

Pia

[jgh]

Welcome aboard! Don't feel awkward... I don't think there is anything you could say that would please a bunch of hosta nuts more than saying you are new to hostas and just want a little advice. We love trying to get people hooked on our peculiar habit!

Good advice above. I too would stick to some of the old standards for your first ones. I'll name a few I couldn't live without:

There are several good big-leaved big blue hostas - I think I'd look for Blue Angel but you might get some other suggestions in that category.

In the tall blue category, Krossa Regal. If you like the look, Regal Splendor is the same plant only with a creamy edge. Both are easy to grow.

For a medium, lower growing blue, Halcyon still sets the standard.

June is simply the finest hosta there is. (yellow centered, bluish green margins, very elegant.) If you want to plant just one hosta... make it a June. If you want to plant just three - make it three Junes! By the way, June is a sport from Halcyon and looks great planted with Halcyon.

Continuing the Halcyon theme, I think maybe the best medium sized blue hosta with a white margin is El Nino - another sport of Halcyon. Very similar is First Frost, another sport of Halcyon that emerges with a buttery yellow margin that turns to cream later in the season. First Frost was a Hosta of the Year so there are more of them around than El Nino - but I still prefer El Nino. A grouping of three - Halcyon, June, and one of these other two is both attractive - and interesting to talk about family connections.

(If you like them, there are more great members of the family. Devon Green / Canadian Sheild is the all green sport of Halcyon - nice, easy plant. May is the all yellow sport - a little slower growing. June Fever is a very bright yellow early in the season, with a thin green margin and none of the "waxy coat" typical of the rest of the family. You could easily do a whole bed of Halcyon / June sports and have lots of variety and beauty.)

I only meant to nominate one hosta in each category, but I have two tall hostas that are green with a yellow margin that I have to suggest... Sagae and Montana Aureomarginata.

In the yellow category - chartreuse or yellow depending on the light conditions... August Moon is easy to grow and I often give them away or sell them for about $1 for multiple-eyed divisions. There are newer and brighter ones... You might consider one of the newer bright yellow ones... Dancing Queen is a favorite... also Fire Island.

Want to cover an area with the easiest growing hosta there is? Golden Tiara grows so rapidly that you can divide it about every three years and have an infinite supply of plants. I kid you not - the one I bought 20+ years ago has given me probably 1000 plants by now! It has smallish leaves and will make an attractive medium sized clump.

Oh, yeah - especially if your planting area will get some sun... there is a whole family of great hostas, all related, that are shiny and have large fragrant white flowers and tolerate more sun than other hostas. (Most hosta blossoms are considered so-so by most gardenrs - some even cut the stalks off as they emerge... but this group has great flowers.) Fragrant Bouquet is the parent plant - and the color combination is not my favorite. Guacamole (yellow centers, green margins) was my favorite for years, and I like planting it with its all green sport, Fried Green Tomatoes, and its all yellow sport, Fried Bananas. These are all easy to grow and fast growers. I'm finding myself very partial to a newer tetraploid version of Guacamole... two plant names Avocado / Hole Mole. There are lots more in this family... they tend to look good planted together and the fragrance is really excellent.

I'm running out of steam - I know I've missed some obvious choices... I'll let others add their favorites.

[rosemarie]

Welcome to the enablers club. We love to turn people into addicts! All the above advice is great, and buying from Chris is a great way to start. You can get all the good advice you need from the folks in this club. Glad to have you aboard!!!