How do I plan a tight hosta bed?
Comments (24)
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years agoRelated Discussions
How do I arrange these hostas together?
Comments (3)You need the full name to find info on the Latin ones. Try Fortunei Aureomarginata and Fortunei albomarginata at Hosta Library or wherever. These two and Honeybells are ones I have, they are all what I would call Medium size. Of mine, the F. Aureomarginata is the biggest. I haven't measured, but maybe 20" high, 24" or more wide. Gets a ton of flowers when it blooms, sends up a dozen scapes at once. F. Hyacinthina is also vigorous and about the same size. Honeybells is similar for me. I'm not sure about the mediovarigata, but it may be a bit smaller. Blue Cadet is definitely smaller. Other than height, arranging is just a matter of what looks good to you, which is hard to tell when you just have bare roots. Since your space is long and 3.5' wide, I'd suggest about 8-9 plants and the fern in a long row about a foot-and-a-half to 2 feet apart, with the others more to the front in the gaps. You have 2 solid dark greens, Hyacinthina, and one solid bright green in Honeybells. You could try anchoring both ends of the bed with the 2 Hyacinths and put the Honeybells in the middle. Then fill with the variegated ones and put the Blue Cadets and Medivari. in front. Daffodils can go anywhere; the fern may be the biggest thing in the bed. Good luck raising your bare roots or bulbs; if they are fresh enough they should be fine. Hostas are tough, but they don't like sitting in bags at stores forever. Can you get any hosta in pots at a local nursery? The few $ more will get you nicer plants. August Moon would be a nice in-expensive addition to your group....See MoreHow do I harvest and plant hosta seeds?
Comments (10)Hi there Nance! Starting hosta from seed is a fun and rewarding enterprise. I like to let the seeds ripen on the stalk- but I watch for drying and harvest the stalk before the pods burst open. I let the stalks finish drying in a paper lunch bag indoors in a cool dry place. Later on- I will use a tooth pick to coax the remaining seeds from the dried pods. I like to winter sow my hosta seedlings- and others have great results indoor sowing under lights indoors in the winter. Both of these options have forums here in GW. I take old icecream buckets, the ones that let some light through- poke drain holes in the bottom- and another 4 holes just under the lip at the top for transpiration. I add at least a thumbs depth of soil less potting mix with time released fert mixed in wet it good - sprinkle the seeds on top- put the lid back on and place out in the cold- sometime in January. There is not much more to do till you have sprouts. It is the lazy mans way to sure fire sowing. Most of your seedlings will probably be plain old hosta- but some may really shine! Enjoy! Julie...See MoreHow do I plant bare root hosta?
Comments (13)So if I understand correctly, if I put the white part of the stems below ground, then the place where the roots emerge from the stems will be an inch or so below ground, correct? ===>>> not in my world ... roots in the ground.. leaves above the ground... the middle part.. the crown.. at the surface level .. in the ground ... but not like an iris ... you say.. where the roots come out of the crown should be one inch deep .. maybe on a larger hosta.. your comment is an over generalization to some extent ... but one thing for sure.. the petioles... the celery-like stalks that hold up the leaves.. which come out of the top of the crown ... should NOT be in the soil.. MUCH AT ALL ... i dont understand why you can not tell.. looking at what you got in the mail ... which creamy white parts.. have never seen the sun .... that stuff has to be in the ground.. if the parts are green.. they were and are supposed to be.. above ground .... now.. here is the real issue ... all of the above [including your thoughts] is within the realm of OK .... but the issue is whether .. when the soil settles.. they end up another inch or two deep ... and then.. all of a sudden.. they are 3 inches underground ... and that is where the problems will be .... now .... something like liberty.. a potential large.. will probably not care .... but if baby bunting ends up 3 inches too deep... you will have problems.. make sense??? it usually ends up being a function of what you use to 'fluffify' your soil.. what you amend with.. and how it reacts to ground freeze and the freeze thaw cycle ... but never forget.. they are hosta ... and but for totally ejecting themselves in the freeze thaw cycle in winter.. you are going to be hard pressed to kill them quickly ... if something just doesnt look right next spring... odds are.. they ended up too deep.. and at that point.. you will lift them.. and set them properly .... most of us.. at looking at a pic.. can quickly tell.. what is planted too deep ... [sometimes i think babka.. in tx.. with her pot culture.. forgets what a witch mother earth can be.. lol ...] good luck .. it sounds like you are already having fun... ken ps: is this your first mail order??? did it make you feel like a child at xmas again.. lol .....See MoreHow do you name your hosta beds?
Comments (24)A bed called Kokopeli would probably not appropriately have hosta in it (LOL). I have long been fascinated by the world-wide universality of variations of the word "Mano" as it applies to a great spirit or god in so many cultures. In some native american languages it is "Manitoon". In others it is "Manitou".Biblically food from God is called "Mano". Some of us believe we were made in the image of God so we call ourselves "man" and refer to ourselves as "huMAN": etc.,etc.---etc. I'd not made the association between the name Anisazi and Anishinaabe until you mentioned it. I read in the Michener book Centennial that the name Arapaho translates to "The People", which seems to have nothing in common. Pronunciation is important. One would have to properly pronounce Ojibwe to see how it could have been mis-interpreted as Chippewa. Ojibwe is a very complicate language. I am tirelessly working on how I would be identified in Ojibwe as "he who crawls through his hosta gardens with a camera in one hand and a clipboard in the other". Sorry - this is straying from how we name our gardens. Les Hwcthgwaciohaacbito (LOL)....See Moreryseryse_2004
9 years agogardenweed_z6a
9 years ago
paul_in_mn
9 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years agoDiggingInTheDirt
9 years agoUser
9 years ago
funnthsun z7A - Southern VA
9 years agoYou mean like this?
This bed was planted last year and I don't like an empty bed look either (obviously!) Some of these are moved from elsewhere, some came out of pots to go here and I spaced them as I thought they would end up, with a full look in no time. I add a lot of other shade perennials in my beds to fill in the gaps between hostas, that way they can easily be moved or divided (the shade perennials, not the hostas!), if I need the space. I'm an impatient woman, just ask my DH.
FYI - This bed is 15 feet front side, 22 feet left side and 34 feet around the back curve. Plenty of room for lotsa hosta :)
This post was edited by funnthsun on Sat, Jun 7, 14 at 19:47
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9 years agoAround 2007 or so, I decided to clean off a hill outside my house by an old rock wall. It was covered in weeds and poison ivy. It took me a while just to clean up, and I needed something to stabilize the soil. I don't think I even knew what "hosta" was at that time. I just started buying as many of the green leafy things as I could at the nursery centers.
I planted them about two feet apart, not realizing (or paying attention) that some would reach 50 to 70 inches wide. This is what part of the hill looks like now. Pardon the weeds. They love to grow on the wall along with moss and ferns, so I snapped this before tackling a weeding session.
The overlapping wave of leaves might bother some, but I love it. I get to see this from my kitchen window. I'm finally tackling the job of measuring and trying g to identify what I planted all those years ago. I don't really divide them much, I just move something that might be dwarfed or almost completely hidden by a larger neighbor. I've made other beds this way too, with them touching and placed so they'll grow to touch one anotherSo I'm team overlap. :)
gardenweed_z6a
9 years agoDiggingInTheDirt
9 years ago
Eleven
9 years agoGesila
9 years agoGesila
9 years agoHere's an example of my group of 5:
Popcorn, Vulcan, Sweet Home Chicago, June Fever, High Society.
I knew (due to it's color), that Sweet Home Chicago would grow the fastest, so I put it in the middle. I put Vulcan and June Fever on each side of Sweet Home Chicago to give it some color. Then, on each end, I put Popcorn on the left and High Society on the right. They are both smaller hostas.
I didn't know they were going to explode like they have this year or I would have pulled out Vulcan and June Fever out in the spring. That will have to wait until next year. Sweet Home Chicago will easily fill up the entire space once I pull Vulcan and June Fever out.
Here's what it looked like before they were full leafed out this spring:
Gesila
DiggingInTheDirt
9 years agoirawon
9 years agoUser
9 years agoGesila
9 years agoAnother thing I do to fill in the hosta bed is to put shorter, solid color hostas under the uprights. It keeps the uprights up and fills in the space underneath.
Serendipity is over three feet wide. It keeps Seducer upright and fills the empty space between Seducer and Touch of Class.
I stuck Midas Touch underneath Sagae. Again, it keeps it upright, and I love the look of a Sagae leaf lying on top of Midas Touch.
Striker is an example of how I use minis to fill in the spaces at the front of the beds.
I also use hostas in pots to fill up some spaces. Right now, Grand Slam fills up the small gap left between Grand Canyon and Liberty in back of it. I won't need it there next year.
Gesila
Gesila
9 years agoirawon
9 years agoUser
9 years agoDelawareDonna
9 years agoDiggingInTheDirt
9 years ago
almosthooked zone5