Gardener Don Dean has been hooked on hosta for many years. His collection includes everything from the dwarf varieties to the giant. All colors, all textures--you name it, he's probably got it.
According to Dean, the three essentials for growing this hardy, shade-loving perennial are "a loose, highly organic soil, ample moisture without being soggy and a little bit of neglect."
A good, little hosta to plant along the border is H. venusta. It is more readily available than most of the other dwarfs or miniatures. The golden foliage of H. venusta 'Yellow Boa' adds as a nice contrast to the greens.
'Halcyon' is a striking blue-green hosta with a waxy coating on its foliage that protects it from leaf burn caused by the sun's ultraviolet rays. As the season goes on, the coating can get worn off. You can even rub the wax off with your finger.
A rare cultivar called 'Hot Lips' gets its name from the leaf petiole running down to the base of the plant. It has a bright red color resembling painted lips. 'Olive Branch' is another rare one. If you take a look at it, it has an interesting maple-leaf pattern in a yellow-green color, surrounded by a green leaf margin.
There's a variety of plant sizes. One of the very smallest is called 'Thumbnail', so named because of the size of its leaves.
It seems like hosta and slugs go hand in hand. Some stand up to these pests better than others. Plants with thicker foliage are more resistant to slug damage because it is more difficult for these slimy creatures to chew through their leaves. One such slug resistant variety is 'Love Pat'.
No matter where you turn in Dean's garden, he has a story to go with each variety, whether it's 'Green Eyes', 'Golden Tiara', 'Just So', 'Delta Dawn', 'Shade Fanfare', 'On Stage' or 'Center Stage'. Dean's favorite is 'Sagae'--a very large, upright, vase-shaped plant. 'Sagae' offers a dramatic contrast in its variegation and performs well in the garden.
A rare one called 'Niagara Falls' hasn't been propagated much yet. As to how it got its name, its leaves have a ruffled, pie-crusted edge and deeply imprinted veins in combination with a slightly drooping habit, giving the effect of cascading water. Dean is hoping to hybridize 'Niagara Falls' and would like to combine the pollen from this plant with another to bring out some of the unique characteristics of the foliage.
"It actually takes about five seconds to hybridize a hosta," says Dean. "But it then takes about five years to watch the seedling grow from germination to a mature plant. Hybridizing is something that anybody can do." He says that you can pick up a characteristic from one variety and blend it with the characteristics of another. Blend the pollen with the egg or ovary of the female parent.
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