Skip to content

Top Navigation

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Food
  • Holidays & Entertaining
  • Home & Garden
  • Style & Culture
  • News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living Books this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Southern Living

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • The Most Popular Hairstyles of 2021

      The Most Popular Hairstyles of 2021

      The trendy haircuts you’ll be seeing everywhere this year. Read More
    • How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

      How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

      Learn how to season this Southern kitchen staple in five easy steps. Read More
    • The Right Way to Heat a Pre-Cooked Ham

      The Right Way to Heat a Pre-Cooked Ham

      It's so easy, trust us. Read More
  • Food

    Food

    See All Food
    How Long Do Deviled Eggs Last in the Fridge?

    How Long Do Deviled Eggs Last in the Fridge?

    Best practices for dealing with deviled eggs
    • All Food
    • All Recipes
    • Holidays & Occasions
    • Quick Fix Suppers
    • Slow Cooker Recipes
    • Desserts
    • Casseroles
    • Healthy Recipes
  • Holidays & Entertaining

    Holidays & Entertaining

    See All Holidays & Entertaining
    70 Wedding Vow Examples That Will Melt Your Heart

    70 Wedding Vow Examples That Will Melt Your Heart

    Fight writer's block and find ways to express your love with these romantic, funny, and short wedding vow examples.
    • Christmas
    • Entertaining
    • Thanksgiving
    • Southern Weddings
    • Easter
    • Kentucky Derby
    • Valentine's Day
    • 4th of July
    • Mother's Day
  • Home & Garden

    Home & Garden

    See All Home & Garden
    30 Containers for Covered Porches That Will Thrive in the Shade

    30 Containers for Covered Porches That Will Thrive in the Shade

    Some containers have all the sun. These shady planters, though, are having plenty of fun sans sun. We’ve gathered all of our favorite shade-loving containers to inspire your planting this season. If you have a shady yard or want to perk up a shaded spot in your home, at your front door, on your porch, or around your patio, put together a pretty shade-loving container that’s also easy to care for. Plants like caladiums and creeping Jenny will thrive in the shade, and they’ll also add great color and movement to your planters. If you’re looking for the best plants for the shade and great flowers that thrive in shade, also reach for impatiens, coleus, sweet potato vines, mazus, vincas, torenias, violas, petunias, pansies, hellebores (Lenten roses), hostas, astilbes, and trilliums. They look great and will thrive in full to partial shade. Shade-loving flowers aren’t too hard to find. Ask around at your local garden store, and you’ll be able to locate the ingredients and put together any one of these shade-tolerant container ideas. Also, in regards to your container, don’t forget to think vertical. We love pots and planters, but a hanging basket is another great option, as is an elevated planter, which will make a statement and take advantage of any vertical space.
    • Home Decor Ideas
    • Idea Houses
    • Before & After
    • Inspired Communities
    • Curb Appeal
    • House Plans & Builders
    • The Grumpy Gardener
    • Plant Names A-Z
  • Style & Culture

    Style & Culture

    See All Style & Culture
    70 Cute and Funny Nicknames For Your Best Friends

    70 Cute and Funny Nicknames For Your Best Friends

    Let your besties know how much they mean to you with these unique nicknames.
    • Southern Culture
    • Hair
    • Travel
    • Beauty
    • Pets
    • Southern Fashion
    • Healthy Living
  • News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living Books this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

LIVE
  1. Southern Living
  2. Gardening Ideas
  3. Shade Loving Plants
  4. The Grumpy Gardener's Guide to Hostas

The Grumpy Gardener's Guide to Hostas

By Steve Bender
March 16, 2018
Skip gallery slides
Save FB Tweet

1 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

For the Love of Hostas

Variegated hostas and bright purple Siberian Irises surround pond
Credit: Howard Rice/Gap Photos

I have been taken. I have been claimed. I thought I wasn’t vulnerable to this addiction, but I was wrong. At first, I tried to hide it, but the signs were obvious. Everyone around me knew. Now, so must you. I am a hosta junkie, and my name is Grumpy.

My only solace is that I am far from alone. Millions of people around the world—many still in hiding—live in the grips of a passion called “hostaphilia” that shows absolutely no hint of abating.

It’s easy to understand how victims can fall. Hostas, you see, are simply the best perennials for temperate shade. Species of hosta and their selections interbreed so readily that myriad forms abound in a mind-boggling array of sizes and shapes. Rounded, heart-shaped, lance-shaped, or oval leaves can be blue, green, chartreuse, or golden with stripes of yellow, cream, or white running down the centers or hugging the edges. Plus, many selections sport showy blue, purple, lavender, or white blossoms that may be highly fragrant.

So many distinct hostas exist that I imagine their growers must fill margarita blenders with the plant’s chromosomes. They hit the “pulse” button for a few seconds and then pour the genetic goop onto seed flats to see what they get. A new hosta is introduced every 12 hours, is awarded a catchy name like ‘Poke Salad Annie,’ and is priced at a mere $225. Fortunately, you don’t need to pay that much. Go to your local independent garden center or big-box store; look for the selections I recommend on page 20; and scarf up some nice, quart-size plants ranging from $7 to $8 each to start your own hosta addiction.

1 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

How to Grow Hostas

Variegated Hostas and Bright Purple Irises surrounding a small pond
Credit: Mark Turner/Getty Images

Hostas thrive from Canada to the Gulf Coast (USDA Zones 3 through 9). Based on my observations, though, the plants enjoy a good, cold winter. They grow bigger from Zone 7 north, but you can plant heat-tolerant hostas like ‘Royal Standard’ as far south as northern Florida. Spring and fall are the best times to plant. Summer is okay if you water regularly. Those with bluish foliage require shade. Those with yellowish leaves can take some sun. Good soil is key. Plant hostas in moist, fertile, well-drained soil that contains plenty of organic matter and isn’t choked by any competing roots from nearby trees and shrubs. Fertilize them in spring (just after new growth begins) using an organic product such as Espoma Plant-tone. Feed them again in summer.

2 of 13

3 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Divide and Conquer

Hostas in Shaded Garden with Shed
Credit: Simone Augustin/Gap Photos

New, prizewinning hosta selections from mail-order specialists can be pricey, but don’t sweat it. Within a couple of years, individual plants form nice-size clumps that you can divide into four or five plants, providing you with some freebies. Do this in spring when plants send up clusters of spiky shoots. Lift the entire clump from the ground, and wash the soil from the roots. Use a sharp knife or spade to cut completely between the shoots so you’re left with individual shoots with roots attached. Replant them all, and water them. Or wait until fall when the leaves have withered but are still visible. Lift and wash the clumps as before, cut between the dry leaves, separate the clumps into pieces, and replant.

3 of 13

Advertisement

4 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Hosta’s Best Friends

Hostas Plants in Garden
Credit: James R. Salomon

Though a hosta plant can be beautiful by itself, it’s even more stunning accompanied by other plants that prefer similar growing conditions. Combine coarse, big-leaved hostas with perennials that offer narrow, long, or finely cut foliage, such as astilbes, ferns, wild columbines, and toad lilies. To create color echoes in the garden, marry hostas with other plants that display yellow, chartreuse, or cream in their leaves—like variegated Solomon’s seal, golden Japanese forest grass, ‘Ogon’ sweet flag, ‘Evergold’ and ‘Everillo’ Japanese sedge, and ‘Mrs. Moon’ lungwort. Some of hosta’s other best buds include heucheras, hellebores, wild ginger, and lily-of-the-valley.

4 of 13

5 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Hosta’s Mortal Enemies

Hostas in Garden with gravel path
Credit: Nicholas Stocken/Gap Photos

Let’s start with deer. Hosta leaves make a tasty salad for does. They will eat to the ground all that they can find. Regular applications of deer repellent are the only defense. The other archfoe is a mouselike critter called a vole. It munches through hosta stems at or just below the soil line, leaving wilted, dying leaves in its wake. I have tried chemical vole repellents and found their results so-so. Here’s my best piece of advice: Because voles like to hide under mulch and leaves to avoid predators while they feast, pull away all of the mulch, leaves, and other debris from around your hosta plants. Then pray.

5 of 13

6 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

'June'

June Hosta
Credit: John Richmond/Alamy

Golden leaves with blue-green edges; 12 inches tall, 24 to 30 inches wide

6 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

'Stained Glass'

Stained Glass Hostas
Credit: Rob Whitworth/Gap Photos

Shiny gold leaves with dark green margins; 18 inches high, 3 to 4 feet wide

7 of 13

8 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

'Guacamole'

Guacamole Hostas
Credit: R. Ann Kautzky/Almay

Deeply veined, apple green leaves with blue-green edges; 1 to 2 feet tall, 2 to 4 feet wide

8 of 13

9 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

'Grand Tiara"

Grand Tiara Hostas
Credit: Tommy Tonsberg/Gap Photos

Compact clumps of small, deep green leaves with bright yellow edges; 12 to 16 inches high, 24 to 30 inches wide

9 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

'First Frost'

First Frost Hostas
Credit: Visions/Gap Photos

Blue-green leaves with creamy edges; 16 inches tall, 2 to 3 feet wide

10 of 13

11 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

'Drinking Gourd'

Drinking Gourd Hostas
Credit: Matt Anker

Unique waxy, blue, quilted leaves shaped like cups; 18 to 24 inches high, 2 to 3 feet wide

11 of 13

12 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

'Blue Mouse Ears'

Blue Mouse Ears Hostas
Credit: Richard Wareham/Gap Photos

Miniature plant with leaves that look like its name; 8 to 12 inches tall and wide

12 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 13

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

'August Moon'

August Moon Hostas
Credit: Nicola Stocken/Gap Photos

Large, bright yellow, heart-shaped leaves; grows 1 to 3 feet tall and wide

13 of 13

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Steve Bender

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 13 For the Love of Hostas
    2 of 13 How to Grow Hostas
    3 of 13 Divide and Conquer
    4 of 13 Hosta’s Best Friends
    5 of 13 Hosta’s Mortal Enemies
    6 of 13 'June'
    7 of 13 'Stained Glass'
    8 of 13 'Guacamole'
    9 of 13 'Grand Tiara"
    10 of 13 'First Frost'
    11 of 13 'Drinking Gourd'
    12 of 13 'Blue Mouse Ears'
    13 of 13 'August Moon'

    Share options

    Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

    Login

    Southern Living

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • About Us
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Books from Southern Living
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Sitemap

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Other Meredith Sites

    Other Meredith Sites

    • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
    • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
    • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
    • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
    • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
    • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
    • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
    • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
    • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
    • Health this link opens in a new tab
    • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
    • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
    • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
    • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
    • More this link opens in a new tab
    • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
    • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
    • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
    • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
    • Parents this link opens in a new tab
    • People this link opens in a new tab
    • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
    • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
    • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
    • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
    • Shape this link opens in a new tab
    • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
    • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
    • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
    MeredithSouthern Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Southern Living is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporationthis link opens in a new tab All Rights Reserved. Southern Living may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.southernliving.com

    View image

    The Grumpy Gardener's Guide to Hostas
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.