Guides · Design
Hosta Design Guides
How to use Hostas in the shade garden — composition, scale, companion plants, foliage contrast, and texture.
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Blue Hostas: Best Varieties and How to Keep Them Blue
Why blue hostas are blue, how to keep the color through summer, and blue hosta varieties by size — including blue-and-white, blue-and-gold, red-stemmed and the darkest 'black-blue' hostas, with registry data for each.
Published 2018-06-01
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Companion Plants for Hostas: What to Plant With Hostas
What to plant with hostas: shade perennials, ferns, grasses, annuals and bulbs that share hosta light and moisture needs, with a comparison table, five combinations to copy and a planting checklist.
Published 2018-06-01
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Dwarf Hostas: Miniature and Small Types and How to Grow Them
What counts as a dwarf, miniature or small hosta, how their care differs from larger hostas, and well-documented cultivars with registered sizes.
Published 2018-06-01
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Giant Hostas: Biggest Cultivars and Their Registered Sizes
The biggest hostas for shade gardens — classic giant cultivars with their clump sizes from the American Hosta Society Registry, plus a sortable list of every giant-class cultivar in our catalogue.
Published 2018-06-01
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Hosta 'White Feather': What It Is and How to Grow It
Hosta 'White Feather' comes up pure white in spring and streaks green as the season goes on. Registry facts, size, why it greens up, and how to grow it.
Published 2018-06-01
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Hosta Flowers: Colours, Bloom Time and Fragrance
What colour hosta flowers are, when they bloom, which hostas are actually fragrant (Hosta plantaginea and its hybrids), and whether to cut the flower stems.
Published 2018-06-01
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Hostas for Shade: Matching the Right Hosta to Your Shade
How much shade hostas need, which leaf colours suit deep or light shade, how to plant under trees, and shade cultivars with registry sizes.
Published 2018-06-01
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Hostas for Sun: How Much Sun They Take and Which Ones Cope Best
How many hours of sun hostas can take, which leaf types cope best, sun-tolerant cultivars named by extension services with registry sizes, and how to keep a sunny hosta from scorching.
Published 2018-06-01
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The Best Hostas to Start With: Proven Cultivars by Use
A short, reasoned list of widely grown hostas for small spaces, shade, sun, fragrance and slug-prone gardens, based on Hosta of the Year winners and registry data.
Published 2018-06-01
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Types of Hostas: Size, Leaf Colour and Light
How hostas are grouped by size class, leaf colour, leaf shape and light needs, with a decision table that matches each type to a spot in the garden.
Published 2018-06-01
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White Hostas: White-Centred and White-Edged Varieties Compared
Why white hosta leaves need shade, how white-centred and white-margined hostas differ, and white hosta cultivars with registry sizes and leaf descriptions.
Published 2018-06-01
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