I have not long moved house, coming from a very sunny site, to find that it is very shady in the front garden of my new home. So, what to do? buy hostas!

Sales of these plants has been increasing over the years, and I have lost count of how many varieties that now appear in the catalogues and garden nurseries.

Although hostas prefer filtered sunlight , they will grow in heavy shade, but will not bloom as heavily. There are some now, that have been bred to withstand sunlight.

Hostas come in small,medium and tall heights with leaf colors including yellow-green, light green, medium green, dark green,and blue-green. There are also many variegated types that look really special if planted beneath a tree.

The leaves are also different in shape , some smooth and some puckered, lance shaped, round or heart shaped. Hostas flower on spikes which are usually held above the foliage and also range in height. Flowers are most often, white or lavender.

Propogation is by seed or by division. They have a fleshy crown so they need to be cut with a really sharp knife, when being divided.

The worst of having these lovely plants is that they bring to the garden, one of a gardener’s nightmares; SLUGS! There are so many ideas as to how to get rid of slugs as there are hosta plants, every gardener has their own pet way of killing them.

I like to underplant my hostas with ‘sweet cicely.’ This is a ground cover, very fast growing, that puts out tiny little white flowers all over the plant, before they die off and leave a lovely soft green carpet.

You can also plant hostas with ‘solomons seal’ a plant with large curving stems that have tiny little bell-like flowers hanging from them.

There are so many other plants that you can use, that like the shade and will perform well along- side your hostas, and give you a very attractive looking arrangement.

meet you on the garden path.