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Hostas will endure an amazing amount of neglect in the garden and still survive.

Dividing Monster Hostas

Hostas that are left undisturbed for many years can be come very large. They are exciting garden plants when left this way, but you can divide them into armies of smaller plants to make effective ground cover for large areas. This is best accomplished in autumn, or in spring when just the bud tips are showing. If the plant is divided when in full leaf, it will survive, but the foliage will be severely wilted and will not recover during the growing season.

Hostas tend to grow from a central crown outward in a big mass. Some smaller division may be easily dislodged from the sides, but often the central mass won't break apart easily. Less damage is done and more plants result from using a clean, sharp knife or root saw, rather than a spade to divide the crown. If the plant is very large, a small flexible pruning saw will also do a neat and adequate job. Try to cut or saw through the crown so that several clusters of buds or foliage are contained within each piece. Dust the sections of cut crown that contain raw white tissue with powdered sulfur before replanting, to prevent fungus infection.

There are literally thousands of hosta cultivars, far too many to review or make comparisons of one to the other. But several of the well known old favorites continue to give pleasure and are well worth having. ‘Krossa Regal’ (30in high, 36in wide) is a vase-shaped hosta, taller than it is wide, with mauve flowers on striking 5-foot stems and deeply ridged blue-grey leaves. Its upright form makes a good hedge along the side of a deck, or beautiful specimen plant in a mixed border. ‘Sum and Substance’ (30in high, 48in wide) is wide and spreading, with pale lavender flowers and huge chartreuse-green leaves forming an attractive rosette. It can fill the corner spot of a planting bed, and just two of its 18in wide leaves can fill a vase with style.

Every garden should include some of the hostas with fragrant flowers. The most fragrant is a specie plant, Fragrant Plantain Lily, or known by its botanical name, Hosta plantaginea (22in high, 36in wide). It has light green ridged leaves that stand up to heat and sun exposure, with large spikes of perfumed flowers in August. There is a double-flowered form, H. plantaginea ‘Aphrodite’ that is exceptionally fragrant. Both the single and double forms of H. plantaginea require reliably hot summer temperatures to flower well. For gardens with less dependable warmth in summer, ‘Fragrant Bouquet’ (20in high, 36in wide) has bright chartreuse-green leaves with cream edges, and fragrant lilac to white flowers.

Hostas will endure an amazing amount of neglect in the garden and still survive. But if you want them to make a lush appearance, provide a generous amount of peat moss in their soil and plenty of water each week.

© 2007 Judith Adam. All rights reserved.