A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Hosta bed?......

Does anyone have or have seen a flower bed with just hostas?

DH says that after he replaces the dining room window that I should plant under it and expand the little flower bed that is there . It get's alot of shade so I am thinking of a columbine in the middle(already there) and hostas all around.

The flower bed is only 2 ft by 3 ft now and I am expanding it to 3 ft by 9ft or more.

What ya think?

Tamara:

I have on occasion seen just Hostas, in say peoples landscaping. It looks real nice--simple,fresh & clean--I think it would be a nice choice.

And I have seen it done in some comercial landscapes. I personally think the varigated Hosta's look esp. nice. Good luck!!

unless it is one of the really big columbines 30" tall I think it will get lost. But the idea of a hosta bed in a shady location sounds really serene. I think it would make a great prospect.

Tamara I think that would look real nice, especially a variety of hostas together.

yes.I've seen one.HGTV-gardners diary episoide.They still run the episodes M-F 7 am Central on HGTV.some days is gardeners diary others is city gardner.I've proably got the episode on tape,but have to go to someone elses house to veiw them(I entered the 21st centery-no more VCR its DVD's now,I will re record if ever get a DVD recorder)He had mostly hostas but did have some other plants,but around his deck area was solid hostas maybe a stray fern here& there& some hostas we're in pots set up on higher.I liked his use of the different leafs and leaf sizes.There is a hosta with purple stems& I liked the limeish green one with 3 inch leaves.That deck area was at least 25 ft wide& proably longer than that.I think it was a GA episode.I have Canada episodes too.I taped them 3 yrs ago.I know a few others here did too.you might find in archives& see who else did tapes.I know Weezie didn't tape,but she watched.Also try looking up Memphis TN hosta society.They have a hosta garden& I think was pictures on their website(My mom lives TN..she went to one of their sales& had me choose some hostas from their sale posted on site)Paul James gardner guy may have done a show on hostas too.one of his older shows before the move.

You should add some kind of statue in the bed too or maybe a concrete fountain.something you would still have something to look at in the wintertime& a birdfeeder too.
I can't even keep a columbine alive.

Tamara, we just planted a hosta bed. It's kind of skimpy right now, but the plants are very happy. We've put some caladiums in it to add instant color, until the hostas get bigger. It gets sun until about noon. I'd really like to get some of the really big ones with heart shaped leaves, but we couldn't find one when we were planting.

Here are some pics. We haven't put in the edging yet, and you can tell that we are STILL batteling slugs and snails.

The hosta that is already there is large and taller than 30 inches. I have hostas in the front of my house also. I thought about a statue or something also. I love the tall verdigris cranes.

That will fill out beautifully Gardenermom.

What is that red plant called. What a beautiful color. You'll have a nice set up there after some time.

Thanks, everyone. I just found the hosta link at the top of the page, so maybe we can get some big blue ones!

Those red leaves are caladiums.

Caladiums won't over winter here.

Yeah. They don't here, either. I just put them in for filler whille the hostas get bigger.

I've been told that you can pull up the caladiums and over winter them, and plant them in the spring. I may research that.

I love hostas, but the thing that always puts me off growing groups of them is that slugs seem to love them above all other plants! I think that if a slug was caught, convicted and sentenced to death for 'crimes against gardening' he would order a lovely hosta salad for his last meal!!

You can sink the cladiums in pots.I'm going to bring some back to my beds but sink in pots.I messed up and didn't grab mine one year& I'd removed them from the pots that spring.I just used those 2 qt pots.I have just 2 bulbs going right now& are in a 15 gallon pot of arrowroot/crinums that I pull inside.Don't feel bad claduims won't over winter for me either& are not something that will overwinter in my cold GH either.
I'll review some tapes monday.My neighbor Addy said we'd veiw them together....she's not up at 7 am or earlier like me.she likes ferns with hostas.

I have never had a slug in my hostas.

I don't have slugs around here either. Probably enough other things to bother with, huh.

Very pretty gardenermom!!

I think I must have slugs too.. and beetles of some sort.. they feast on my Hostas and my Hibiscus leaves. bleh

I've found some stuff called Sluggo that isn't dangerous to pets. I sprinkled it around my hostas and hibiscus--it seems to have helped. I'm finding lots of empty snail shells now.

I have a friend who lives in Alaska, and she complains about moose getting in her yard. Wrennie has bears. So, I guess snails and slugs aren't so bad.

Of course, then there's the snake issue....

Crikey, gardenermom! Moose, bears, snakes ... seems like the supporting cast of the next Indiana Jones film! As you suggest, these put my problem into perspective - I never heard of anyone killed by a slithery slug!

That's FUNNY starfish!!

njoynit--Do you mean you just plant the pot in the flowerbed, and pull it out in the winter? Then where do you put the pots? Also, do you trim off the leaves?

Sluggo huh? Where do you find it?? I would run right out and buy it.. I don't want my beautiful Hibiscus to get chewed to bits.. My hostas look pretty good right now, but I still have a few months to go.

Gardenermom, what a beautiful bed!
I have an acquaintance that is a Hosta Collector, with over 100 varieties in his yard. They look fantastic together with all the color variations and sizes. I recommend looking to see if you have a hosta society in your area, they sometimes have hosta sales and auctions for fundraisers and you can get some really good deals, it is the only way I will buy hostas from now on. They run on average about $12-15/plant in nurseries around here. I was buying plants at $12-15 dollars at these auctions but they were so huge, I was able to split them into 7-10 plants. I got a few very large plants for $5. I was able to find some really neat varieties.
I have these varieties:

Striptease is a really neat plant.
Sagae is a nice clean compact medium size plant.
Patriot is really showy with white.
Guacomole is a pretty, with shades of green variegation.
I already had the green and white variegated (common), called Undulata Variegata

If you pardon the half-a** attempt at a bed, I was trying to get the plants in the ground before the really hot weather hit a few weeks ago, it will take a few years to get it to grow together, plus I will be pulling some of the plants and giving them away and putting new varieties in there. It gets about 1-1/2 hrs of part sun a day. It's way in the back of my yard so it can kind of look like caca for a few years. I planted hellebores and am trying a veriegated phlox that doesn't mind part shade.




Here is the leaf of the Striptease, I think it's so cool!

I just bought the Striptease variety last week

I get alot on clearance at the end of season (some of course with no tags), so I will stock up then and just put them in a temporary garden until i'm ready to plant.

Thanks for the heads up--I'll check and see if we have a hosta society here! That bed is going to look great when they get going.

Pink Horse--I've found Sluggo at a local nursery and at Lowe's home improvement store.