Companion/Accent Plantings for the Hosta Garden (pic heavy)
Please share pics of your favorite accent plants in your hosta gardens.
A few to start -
'Branford Beauty' Fern - nice dusty color for contrast
'Sun King' Aralia - 3rd season, will get to 3'x3'; stays yellow all season. This one is in lots of shade. Follage dies back in winter.
'Sea Heart' Brunnera - new, still in pot looking for a shady spot. 'Jack Frost' is another good growing variety that is similar.
'Gold Heart' Bleeding Heart - another nice yellow/gold for the shade. In my Minnesota garden Gold Heart does not go dormant.
In bloom-
'Raspberry Splash' Pulmonaria - great blooming colors early and then spectacular leaf markings as leaves emerge and push down the scapes.
Blooms in May
Leaves in August (part shade)
Paul
Comments (161)
hostahillbilly
10 years agothanks for the reminder, Sandy:
Hepatica is 1st to bloom here, often b4 it even leafs out, and sometimes even with snow on the ground!
hostahillbilly
10 years agoMN Paul - thanks 4 the flower pic of Rogersia ! Don't think ours ever has, waaaa. Bevie tried this all over in the garden to no avail. Finally she threw it over the fence onto a pile of pine straw and voila! So there it stays...
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Spring Plant Delights gardens visit - Part 2 - pic heavy
Comments (3)Enjoyed looking at the pictures. The ones that caught my eye most were Dancing Queen, Mourning Dove and Sugar and Spice. Thanks so much for taking time to post all the pictures!...See MorePics from my garden (pic heavy)
Comments (9)Totally beautiful, just beautiful. And HostaLes, the French were the ones who believed that perfect beauty was sort of boring, and they are the ones who invented "beauty marks", like small moles etc, imperfections which made beauty that much more exquisite, and unique. (Might have led to caricature as well, like Bette Davis Eyes.) Every perfect plant would be alike. The same. And, my DH tells me that in engineering there is something called "sameness death" --so that if it is all leveled out, all the same, then we have a "flatliner" situation. And I personally don't want to flat line any time soon. So Don's plant has a beauty mark, I betcha....See MoreSome pics from my garden - mostly hosta [Warning: Pic heavy]
Comments (6)Lykaon, What a beautiful yard you have...it makes me realize I should really spruce up my edges...mine is way more "rustic", so to speak. I say "YES" to your idea on future hosta beds, you have such an excellent backdrop there for beds. What are your flowering shrubs, Viburnum? Not sure on the Thunderbolt question, it doesn't look quite like mine that I can remember (I lost mine.)....I think mine were more blue, but someone else may have a better thought. Thank you for sharing! Your beds are beautiful! I finally bought Regal Splendor last year after having it on the wishlist year after year...can't wait to see it furl out now! (Eyes are only just now popping up this week here.)...See MoreYard/Garden Pics (pic heavy)
Comments (20)Thanks so much everyone. I really appreciate your kind comments. I-like-to-grow: Yes, I did make the hosta leaf stepping stones. Here is where I purchased the mold: http://www.moldcreations.com/Hosta-leaf-concrete-or-plaster-mold-1250-p/1250.htm I would love to create more beds in the back, but those very large trees you see are all maples. The hostas planted around the fence are all in spin-out bags. Those can be expensive....lol I wish I could just dig a hole wherever I wanted to plant one and stick it in the ground. I can on the side of the garage, but not in the back. Thanks again!...See Morehostahillbilly
10 years agopaul_in_mn
10 years agopaul_in_mn
10 years agoHH, take a look as Tiarella Cordifolia (Heartleaf Foamflower) to compare with your noid. It's a spreader.
Paul
paul_in_mn
10 years agoLamiastrum Herman's Pride - nice yellow bloom in May/June. Slow spreading.
Paul
sandysoil_2008 6A Near Boston
10 years agomctavish6
10 years ago
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
10 years agoIt took me awhile, but I finally came up with one that no one's posted yet ( hope ) ...I have so many duplicates of companions already posted ...this is variegated Sea Holly w Lady's Mantle accompanying Plantaginea and U. AlboMarginata...
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
10 years agoSome false Solomon's seal, mini geranium and a heather accompanying another U. AlboMarginata
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
10 years agoCimicifuga and Frances Williams...not much of F.W. but companion's foliage I just love!
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
10 years agoLastly, My personal favourite...peony, astilbe, iris with Krossa Regal and friends, along with variegated weigela on left and a huge honeysuckle shrub in corner on right. That's all for now, folks!( picture Porky Pig ) :-)
Jo.
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
10 years agoFor comic relief, I thought I'd add one more...Big Daddy being "dwarfed" by Dwarf Goat's Beard (aruncus). Rotfl!! The goat'sbeard is currentry being divided in two after tripling in size over the past 5years... a small BD came home from the cottage, where it wasn't growing at all...it's coming along nicely and the blue colour on BD is holding very well considering sun exposure till 2ish pm.
This was an exciting thread everyone!
Jo.
funnthsun z7A - Southern VA
10 years agoI am more a lurker on the Hosta forum, but noticed that no one has posted cast iron plants yet, so had to do so!
mosswitch
10 years agoDwarf goat's beard is one of my newest favorites. It only gets about 6" high but has the same fluffy flowers as the big ones.
Sandy
User
10 years agoHey, Funnthsun, I mentioned it and posted a picture of my aspidistra and liriope muscari giant on Aug 9th. But I sure do like your picture of the hosta with the aspidistra, and looks like the leaf of either a subtropical orchid or tropical ginger along with it? We have another NC gardener here, so make yourself to home.
If you like variegated aspidistra, you are close to Plant Delights Nursery which is where I got all of my white stripe leaf aspidistra. Pretty good stuff, glad to know it thrives in your zone.
don_in_colorado
10 years agoThey weren't intentional and they aren't really plants, but they were interesting while they lasted in the spring. We had several varieties of mushrooms/toadstools in the hosta beds that I'd never seen before. Here's one kind earlier in the season, freeloading under 'Spartacus' and 'Guardian Angel'. They must have loved all the yummy amendments I added to the beds. : )
Don B.
User
10 years agodon_in_colorado
10 years agoYup, exactly right, Mocc. Pine bark. Very fine pieces. Personally, it's the only type of mulch I really like the look of, when placed in the beds.
Don B.
EDIT: To add pic.
This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Tue, Aug 13, 13 at 0:26
nutmeg4061
10 years agoColumbine Clementine Rose (and a ratty hosta on the right, due to workers stepping on the pips in spring).
nutmeg4061
10 years agoLemon Thyme in the middle.
Small spiky plant lower right is a recently finished blooming Blue Eyed Grass.
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
10 years agopaul_in_mn
10 years agoStachys monnieri (Lamb's Ear) 'Hummelo' - not like the traditional white fuzzy leafed Lamb's Ear.
Paul
funnthsun z7A - Southern VA
10 years agopaul_in_mn
10 years agoWood Poppy/Celandine Poppy - an eastern native wildflower that blooms in May and then reblooms sporadically thru the summer for me. Good fit for the woodland garden - dappled or full shade. Great leaf shape and how many yellow blooms do you see in the shade garden. You will get seedlings (this is 5th year for me and lots of seedling this year for the first time). Tall enough to fill between hosta and not be lost when mature (2' or so).
Early riser
and near end of first blooming period (seed pods are already forming)
Paul
mosswitch
10 years agoMoney plant (lunaria) with albo marginata. A favorite combination in the spring.
Sandy
paul_in_mn
10 years agoYellow Waxbells - grows to shrub size 3-4 feet tall and nearly as wide. It will wilt if in too much sun - dappled or bright shade seems to work well, grows smaller/slower in full shade. Just starting to bloom in MN - sorry don't have a flower pic (link below to flower).
Paul
Here is a link that might be useful: Yellow Waxbells flower
Ruth_MI
10 years agoHellebores, hydrangeas (Incrediballs, just budding) and persicaria painter's palette.
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
10 years agoRuth_MI
10 years agoThanks, Josephine.
Another plant I really like with hostas is ligularia Osiris Fantaisie. It's larger and has more substance than a heuchera, but isn't a monster (so far) like Britt Marie or the Rocket.
User
10 years agopaul_in_mn
10 years agoKeep 'em coming....
Turtlehead (this may be 'Hot Lips') - good clumping, 2-4 feet
tall (back of the garden), spreads by shallow roots, fall bloomer - nice color in September when everything else is winding down, sort of a snapdragon looking bloom (turtlehead).
Paul
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
10 years agoin ny zone5
10 years agoI have also lamium 'Hermann's Pride', as Paul shows. It is a keeper, because it mainly stays in place. The other lamiums I weed out because they tend to cover up hostas, are really invasive.
Here is white trillium, lungswort, a fern, primula, tiarella. Bernd
Mary4b
10 years agokarin pope
8 years ago
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
8 years ago
posierosie_zone7a
5 years agon2hostas (Kansas)
5 years ago
Sage In MN