hosta flowers, yea or nay?
Hello hosta lovers…
Here in Pittsburgh it is rainy and wet also, like many of you. As some of mine are beginning to flower, I was wondering how many of you leave the flowers on your plants? I know some do and some don't. I personally like them on hostas. They are lovely, they are often fragrant, (especially those with large white flowers that flower in August/September…they have a strong lily fragrance…they are related to lilies are they not?) and above all, pollinators LOVE them, and we really need to be kind to pollinators of all sorts these days. So, which do you prefer: flowers on or flower off? Just curious.
'Olive Bailey Langdon' just beginning to flower here in Pittsburgh.
'Thunderbolt' shows its white flowers usually about now.
Comments (14)
DelawareDonna Zone 7A
8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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8 years ago
bchosta 8b west coast canada
8 years ago
don_in_colorado
8 years ago
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoI don't particularly care for the mess when the flowers fall off, then stick to the leaves and dry there. . . cleaning them off can be a chore but generally I don't mind because I get to touch the hostas.
I very much like the bud stage - there are some exquisite flower buds, whether it be the shape, colour or arrangement...the radially arranged ones are beautiful, but so are the spaced-out ones. You just have to look at Donna's hosta blooms thread to see what I mean. The goose-head buds are almost whimsical looking. The tiny bell-shaped ones like on Rainforest Sunrise or English Sunrise makes you stop and stare. The mauve buds on Revolution are so bright against the dark green and white.....I'll stop there.
Maybe this will explain how I feel about the flowers...especially fragrant ones!
Note: typo in Fingertip...should read 'Fingerprint'.
The most important function of the flowers is to attract pollinators. We would not survive without them.
josephines167 z5 ON Canada
8 years agoI wanted to add...no flowers = no seedlings! who would want to miss out on the excitement of watching seedlings appear in their garden? Just Look at these little cuties!
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
8 years ago
jimr66
8 years agoDelawareDonna Zone 7A
8 years ago
ConnieMay ON Z6a
8 years ago
sandyslopes z5 n. UT
8 years ago
beverlymnz4
8 years ago
twoyur