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The Impatient Gardener

Garden, Plants

LET THOSE HOSTAS SEE THE LIGHT

July 1, 2016

I have never been great at following rules. I’m not saying I’m a great rebel, but there has always been a part of me that wants to do the opposite of what I’m told to do just because.

Perhaps this is why I don’t always follow conventional garden wisdom. It certainly sounds better to frame it that way than to just say that I don’t know better. Trying to be a rebel in the garden usually backfires, but sometimes it works out even better than you might have hoped.

This gold-rimmed hosta (another victim of my foolish notion that I will remember its name without a tag) grows happily in a sunny spot in the garden and looks great in combination with a purple-leafed geranium and sun-loving lavender in the foreground.

Hostas are a plant I’d never want to be without, and it’s easy to see why some people become “hostaholics.” The broad leaves offer an excellent course texture to set off so may other plants in the garden and they come in a size that’s perfect for any spot.

One of my favorite hostas, ‘June’, sits atop the small retaining wall in the garden east of the deck. When I planted it there, a large birch shaded the area for most of the day, but when the birch came down ‘June’ adjusted well and is growing like crazy. In fact, it looks to me like she’s due for division soon.

But they are shade plants, right? Well, sort of. I like to think of hostas as shade tolerant plants, but not necessarily shade plants, even though that’s the first place most gardeners think to put them. The truth is, I grow hostas in everything from full sun to deep shade and the color and texture they bring to the sunny spots of my garden is as striking as what they bring to the shade garden.

I’m able to get away with this in part because I garden in zone 5 and pretty far north. Certainly gardeners in hotter zones would have difficultly growing most hostas in full sun. I also don’t think that that sunny and dry would work for this notoriously thirsty plant.

This ‘Patriot’ hosta lived in a container for a year and at the end of the season I plunked in the garden somewhat randomly. It’s in a full sun area of the garden but is partially shaded by the taller plants growing around it including lilies, baptisia and ‘Limelight’ hydrangea, all sun lovers. It provides a great foliage contrast and handles the full sun it gets early in the season with no problem.

The color of the hosta matters too. In general, the lighter in color, the more sun a hosta can handle. Blue hostas won’t have as good of color in sunnier locations, although blue tends to look more green as the season goes on regardless of location. Yellow and white hostas are more likely to have good color in more sun but they will get bleached out if they get too much sun and not enough water.

Let those hostas out of their shady box and see the light. I can’t imagine my garden without them, both in the sun and the shade.

hosta hostas
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
4 Comments

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Comments

  1. Lisa Greenbow says: July 1, 2016 at 2:54 pm

    I have a stand of Sagae hosta that needs to be moved to a shadier spot. I guess they would do ok if they had irrigation. It has been mighty hot and dry here.

    Reply
  2. Vanessa D. says: July 1, 2016 at 3:25 pm

    Hosta can be very addictive! I'm in zone 7b, and while all of mine are in shade (I don't have much but shade to offer) my neighbor has had some varieties in full sun on a dry parched clay hill. They are thriving and gorgeous.

    Reply
  3. Tara & Matt says: July 1, 2016 at 4:38 pm

    I have some hosta I planted in mid May, zone 6b. They're in a very shady spot, and the leaves are turning yellow. Is this due to lack of sun, lack of water, or something else? I would love to help them before it's too late!

    Reply
  4. Janice Goole says: July 8, 2016 at 4:56 pm

    I live in Michigan and have hostas in both shady and sunny areas. They seem to do well in both areas. In fact, I'm a rather new gardener and didn't realize they were to be planted in shady areas! Probably good I never read the labels on the containers!!

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
These sister dahlias are big, beautiful girls. Pen These sister dahlias are big, beautiful girls. Penhill Watermelon (first picture) and Penhill Dark Monarch are the best two HUGE dahlias that I grow. They share slightly twisty petals (Watermelon more so) and, when you look closely, subtle striations that add a beautiful depth of color. Watermelon grows taller than Dark Monarch (7 feet tall or more sometimes) and they both need serious staking, but it’s worth it because they produce a lot of flowers for a large-flowering dahlia. 

I like them both but if I was forced to choose (and who would make me do that?) I’d give the edge to Dark Monarch because it’s a little easier to manage size-wise, produces more flowers and has a bigger variation in flower color so it’s always interesting. 

Which do you like better?
I don’t love tools that only do one thing. But w I don’t love tools that only do one thing. But when there’s only one tool that does that one thing really well, I’m here for it. This pottery/container knife from Sneeboer makes it possible to actually get plants out of pots without breaking or damaging the pot. It’s also really expensive. 😀
A little snippet of a bouquet from the weekend. Zi A little snippet of a bouquet from the weekend. Zinnias, pycnanthemum muticum and bronze fennel shown here.
My love for Nicotiana is not a secret. I love tryi My love for Nicotiana is not a secret. I love trying out new varieties and I feel like they just work so well in my garden from both a design standpoint and a cultural standpoint (they are happy here). Because I grow so many, the ones that self sow can be surprises. 

All of these self-sown Nicotiana are probably at least partly the children of the F1 hybrid Perfume series, which grow to be about 24” tall or so. Last year I grew purple, pink, white and lime versions and these are likely new variations on those. 

Picture 3 is, in my opinion, a good example of how these self sown second-year hybrids can go wrong. I’ll probably rip that one out. 😀

And the last photo is of my favorite colorway, lime, popping up amongst the Zinnias. I find these self-sown Nicotiana popping up all summer, so there’s always a fresh-blooming supply. 

Are you as enamored with Nicotinana as I am?
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