Above: ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’. Below: ‘Guacamole’. ‘Francee’.


household ammonia to four parts water and spray your hostas once a week (more often if it rains). The ammonia adds nitrogen for the hosta and is unpleasant to slugs. Cultivate the hosta bed in spring to de-


stroy slug eggs and clean up debris. You can also apply diatomaceous earth around the plants which destroys slug bodies. Hosta habits


Key to hosta growing success is the fact


that these plants do best with lots of mois- ture. Large hosta roots grow very deep, some travelling as much as 18 inches or more into the earth. Water these giants deeply. The rule of thumb for most hostas, however, is one inch to one-and-a-half inches per week. Division is best done in spring when you


can see what you are doing. This timing also gives the plant a chance to get over the shock of being transplanted and having its roots pruned. While many hosta growers believe they


have to cut the flowers to enhance leaf growth, this makes no difference to the health of the plant but you should know that the flowers are attractive to humming- birds. Others prune the flowers for aesthetic reasons. Hostas will easily live 30 years and never


need division if they are in the right location. You can propagate by division, however, and you can also grow the plant from seed. Hos- ta will take four to eight years to mature. You can collect seeds in late fall when they turn black, but don’t expect them to come true to parent.


The August lily If you love scent in the garden and en-


joy hosta flowers, then look for Hosta plan- taginea, the most fragrant of all the hostas,


www.localgardener.net


which was introduced from China to Eng- land in 1790. It prefers sun and has gigantic, six-inch flowers that open at night and close in the morning. H. plantaginea will con- tinue to grow leaves throughout the season, unlike the sieboldi varieties we often plant here.


This is the hosta from which all the fra-


grant hostas descend. One lovely hybrid called Hosta ‘Aphrodite’, has gorgeous, pure white, double flowers. Cool nights, warm days, plenty of sunshine and continual moisture are needed to stimulate blooming. One downside: deer tend to enjoy fra-


grant hostas as much as we do. On the bright side, some say that H. Plantaginea is


slug resistant. Baby sized hosta Miniature hostas open a new window on


the world of hostas. The tiniest are wonder- ful in pots and troughs and the slightly larg- er ones can make a stunning border. Who can resist the tiny ‘Mouse Ears’ hosta?


The American Hosta Growers Association couldn’t; they named it Hosta of the Year in 2008. Its heart-shaped blue-green cluster of cup-shaped leaves are very appealing – that is, until you see ‘Carolyn’s Gold’, which abso- lutely glow in the garden like a tiny light. ‘Twist of Lime’ is yellow with sword-


shaped wavy leaves, four inches tall with a 10-inch spread.


Spring 2012 • 17


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