Hostas are a classic favorite for the shade garden. This leafy perennial is well-loved by landscape designers for its easy-care personality and the surprising number of textures and variegation patterns its foliage has to offer – plus those spikes of fragrant summer blooms. Here, we gather a few of our favorites and share what makes each one special. Whatever your style, we’ll help you find the perfect one to add texture and interest to your garden.
Green + Bright
Hostas come in all kinds of green, and in a shady garden, hostas with bright lime and chartreuse tones really glow. The cultivar ‘Sum + Substance’ is a great example. Its large leaves are heart-shaped and glossy yellow-green – becoming more golden over time with some morning sun. Fragrant white blooms follow in the summer. Another bright green cultivar, ‘Guacamole,’ features ribbed leaves with chartreuse-gold centers and slightly darker bluish-green margins that create a subtle two-tone detail – like the inside of an avocado.
The Blues
Blue-toned hostas add an intriguing smoky depth to the usual mix of green foliage we see in our landscapes, and you’ll find several of these cultivars in our assortment. ‘Halcyon’ is a relatively small cultivar with a great blue color that holds true the entire season. Lavender blooms rise above the heart-shaped foliage too. Other blue-shaded cultivars include ‘Earth Angel’ and the large-leafed ‘Blue Angel’ and ‘Big Daddy.’
Multi-Toned Greens
Many hostas display beautiful multi-toned patterns in their leaves, creating a sense of movement and depth in the landscape. The cultivar ‘Captain Kirk’ has showy oval leaves with light yellow-green centers and darker green margins – somewhat like ‘Guacamole,’ but with a sharper contrast. Lavender blooms appear in the summer. A similar cultivar, ‘Paradigm,’ has puckered leaves with chartreuse centers and blue-green margins below lovely white flowers. And we’re looking forward to an upcoming shipment of the cultivar ‘June.’ This popular hosta has a fascinating three-tone variegation in its leaves with bright golden centers, irregular blue-green margins, and a third lighter green tone in the middle.
Splashed in White
Including plants with white variegation is like turning on hundreds of little lights in your shade garden. White variegation in a hosta often appears as a margin around the edge of each leaf. This margin can be wide or thin, straight or irregular, bright snowy white or creamy too. The hosta known as ‘Diamonds are Forever’ is just one example. The crisp white margins on its leaves share space almost equally with the green centers in a bright and sharply contrasting display. Other white-variegated cultivars include ‘Patriot,’ ‘Francee,’ and ‘Blue Ivory.’
Upright + Unusual
Finding an interesting hosta isn’t just about color. Some hostas feature unusual forms and foliage structures too. The cultivar ‘Praying Hands’ has wavy, dark green leaves with golden edges that stand tall on upright stems. The leaf blades fold inward and give the cultivar its name. Lavender blooms arrive in late summer too.
Another hosta with a unique shape and texture is ‘Abiqua Drinking Gourd.’ Its blue-green, heavily corrugated leaves twist into a cupped form that can hold rainfall – a welcome resource for insects and other wildlife looking for a sip.
The Perfect Plant for Shade
Hostas love life in the shade and with all the variety they offer in foliage patterns, textures, and hues – plus blooms too – your shade garden can be just as interesting as you dream it can be. For a hosta that matches both your style and space, stop by the Nursery Yard – we’d love to show you our collection and help you find the perfect one.
