Hosta SEEDS

LATIN NAME: Hosta

COMMON NAME: Hosta

The hosta is the plant that makes the shade garden look finished. The clumping, deciduous perennial carries the bold mounds of the broad, heart-shaped or oval leaves, plain green or variegated with the cream and the gold, and the spikes of the tubular, white or lavender flowers rise above the mounds through the summer. The plant is one of the great foliage plants of the garden, and the bold leaves are the fine, easy backbone of the shaded border. It is a plant of the cool, moist, rich, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The hosta is a familiar shade of the plant science, studied for the broad, bold leaves and the way the plant fills the shaded ground. Researchers have looked at the breeding of the leaf colours and the forms, and it keeps showing up in the work on the foliage plants, the shade perennials and the members of the asparagus family. The spikes of the tubular flowers and the clumping habit have also made it a fine garden plant, and the hosta is a regular subject of the studies of the great foliage plants of the garden.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The hosta is the great green, generous plant of the shade garden. The broad, bold mounds of the leaves fill the shaded border, the woodland edge and the north side of the house, keeping their good looks from the spring to the frost, and the spikes of the white or lavender flowers rise through the summer. The plant is one of the fine, easy choices for the difficult shade, and the young shoots have their own long record in the kitchens of the East, where they are gathered and cooked in the old ways. It has drawn attention in the international horticultural and the culinary press for the bold foliage and the old uses of the shoots, and it is a fine, long-lived plant of the cool, moist, rich, well-drained garden.

The hosta is one of the great foliage plants of the garden, and the bold mounds of the leaves fill the shaded border, the woodland edge and the north side of the house. The young shoots have their own long record in the kitchens of the East.

To grow the hosta from seed, sow the flat, winged seeds on the surface of a pot of moist, free-draining soil, pressing them in lightly, keep the pot in a bright, sheltered spot and water gently. The seedlings come up within a few weeks and grow on steadily. Give them the shade and the cool, moist, rich, well-drained ground, and the bold mounds will thicken through the years.

Hostas are extremely popular, low-maintenance landscaping plants that will tolerate a wide variety of conditions. Hostas are related to agave plants and form short rosettes of lush leaves. They can be used as groundcover, especially along the borders of your beds. They also work well spaced between taller shrubs or evergreens. Hostas are inexpensive compared to many landscaping plants, yet beloved by plant-enthusiasts. This makes them a good choice to fill space in your beds so you do not have to spend a fortune on plants nor do you have to sacrifice décor. Hostas are easily divided to form new plants, so you can multiply them as your needs arise. They are perennial too, so you will not need to plant them each year. In Japan, the leaves of certain species have even been eaten as a food. Hostas can take on a variety of appearances, including white, yellow and lime green variegated leaves. This packet contains a mix of various species to give you landscaping some real flavor.