❦ The Hosta Farm Encyclopedia of Hosta cultivars

Search the encyclopedia

Guides / design

The Best Hostas to Start With: Proven Cultivars by Use

Published 2018-06-01 · Updated 2026-10-06

There is no single best hosta, but there is a safe place to start: cultivars that have been grown widely for years and still perform. The most useful public list of those is the Hosta of the Year award. From 1996 to 2025 it was run by the American Hosta Growers Association, which chose plants that are good garden plants in all regions of the country and widely available. From 2026 the American Hosta Society runs the award, based on its Benedict Garden Performance Award. Both points come from the American Hosta Society’s Hosta of the Year booklet.

The list below picks from those winners by use. If you are still deciding between sizes and colours, start with types of hostas, which explains the groups.

About the sizes

Sizes in this article are height × spread from each cultivar’s record in the Hosta Registry. The Hosta of the Year booklet often gives larger figures for mature garden clumps (for example, it lists Sagae much bigger than its registered 51 × 66 cm). Expect your plants to vary with age, soil, water and climate.

Shortlist by use

Small spaces, pots and troughs

  • Blue Mouse Ears (Hosta of the Year 2008): a miniature with small, round, very thick blue-green leaves, registered at 13 × 23 cm (5 × 9 in). The booklet describes lavender flowers in midsummer and suggests it for rock gardens. The RHS also names it for small spaces.
  • Mini Skirt (2024): a miniature with a wide creamy margin on small, round, wavy leaves, 18 × 36 cm (7 × 14 in).
  • Rainbow’s End (2021): a small hosta with a yellow centre, 28 × 53 cm (11 × 21 in). The registry records red scapes, and the booklet notes pale purple flowers.

More choices are in our dwarf hosta guide.

Edging and the front of a border

  • June (2001): light yellow centre with dark blue-green margins, 38 × 51 cm (15 × 20 in).
  • Patriot (1997): dark green leaves with a white margin about 2.5 cm wide, 30 × 76 cm (12 × 30 in). The booklet notes good sun tolerance.

Blue hostas for shade

  • Halcyon (2026, the first winner under the American Hosta Society program): 53 × 58 cm (21 × 23 in). The booklet says it keeps its blue colour longer than many and has good slug resistance, with pale blue-violet flowers in midsummer.
  • First Frost (2010): 41 × 91 cm (16 × 36 in), intensely blue-green leaves with a margin that starts yellow and turns white, per its registry entry.

Blue colour comes from a wax layer that wears off in summer heat and rain, according to the American Hosta Society’s Hosta Helper, so give blues shade. See blue hostas.

Sunnier spots

  • Guacamole (2002): gold centre with a dark green margin, 25 × 46 cm (10 × 18 in). The booklet credits it with good sun tolerance and large, fragrant pale lavender flowers in August.
  • Sum and Substance (2004): a chartreuse-gold giant, 91 × 152 cm (36 × 60 in). It appears on the Missouri Botanical Garden list of sun-tolerant hostas.
  • So Sweet (1996): 36 × 56 cm (14 × 22 in); the booklet notes sun tolerance and very fragrant pale lavender flowers in August.

“Sun-tolerant” still means morning sun and afternoon shade for most gardens, with steady moisture. Our hostas for sun guide has more on this.

A big specimen plant

  • Sum and Substance (above).
  • Liberty (2012): 100 × 100 cm (39 × 39 in).
  • Sagae (2000): 51 × 66 cm (20 × 26 in) in the registry, with good slug resistance according to the booklet.
  • Empress Wu (not a Hosta of the Year): registered at 127 × 274 cm (50 × 108 in), with leaves about 71 cm (28 in) long. Plan for a clump well over 2 m across. See giant hostas.

Fragrant flowers

  • Fragrant Bouquet (1998): 46 × 66 cm (18 × 26 in), with fragrant pale lavender, nearly white flowers.
  • Stained Glass (2006): 38 × 81 cm (15 × 32 in), with large fragrant near-white flowers in August.
  • Guacamole and So Sweet (above).

The flower details are from the Hosta of the Year booklet. Why only some hostas smell, and when they flower, is covered in hostas in bloom.

Gardens with a lot of slugs

The booklet notes slug resistance for Halcyon, Sagae and Sum and Substance. This fits the RHS observation that thicker-leaved hostas are generally less eaten by slugs. Resistant does not mean immune, so young leaves may still need protection in spring.

Shortlist at a glance

UseFirst choicesRegistry size (H × W)
Pots, troughsBlue Mouse Ears, Mini Skirt13 × 23 cm; 18 × 36 cm
Border edgeJune, Patriot38 × 51 cm; 30 × 76 cm
Blue in shadeHalcyon, First Frost53 × 58 cm; 41 × 91 cm
Some sunGuacamole, Sum and Substance25 × 46 cm; 91 × 152 cm
SpecimenSum and Substance, Liberty91 × 152 cm; 100 × 100 cm
FragranceFragrant Bouquet, Stained Glass46 × 66 cm; 38 × 81 cm
Slug pressureHalcyon, Sagae53 × 58 cm; 51 × 66 cm

All Hosta of the Year winners

From the American Hosta Society booklet (3rd edition):

YearsWinners
2027Clear Fork River Valley
2026Halcyon
2021–2025Skywriter (2025), Mini Skirt (2024), Neptune (2023), Island Breeze (2022), Rainbow’s End (2021)
2016–2020Dancing Queen (2020), Lakeside Paisley Print (2019), World Cup (2018), Brother Stefan (2017), Curly Fries (2016)
2011–2015Victory (2015), Abiqua Drinking Gourd (2014), Rainforest Sunrise (2013), Liberty (2012), Praying Hands (2011)
2006–2010First Frost (2010), Earth Angel (2009), Blue Mouse Ears (2008), Paradigm (2007), Stained Glass (2006)
2001–2005Striptease (2005), Sum and Substance (2004), Regal Splendor (2003), Guacamole (2002), June (2001)
1996–2000Sagae (2000), Paul’s Glory (1999), Fragrant Bouquet (1998), Patriot (1997), So Sweet (1996)

What about White Feather, Heavenly Tiara and Tracy’s Emerald Cup?

An older version of this page featured these three. White Feather has its own guide. We could not verify the size and slug claims made earlier for Heavenly Tiara and Tracy’s Emerald Cup, so we have removed them rather than repeat unchecked figures.

How to use this list

  1. Choose the use that matches your space, then check the registered spread against the room you have.
  2. Prefer the older winners if you want plants that are easy to find. The award was given partly for being widely available.
  3. Keep the soil moist while new plants establish, and follow the basic hosta care routine.

If you plan to order plants online, see our roundups of hostas sold on Amazon and hosta bare roots.

Sources