Posts Tagged ‘Hosta’

Helleborus Grape Galaxy

It’s getting to be one of my favorite times of the year as all of my Stock Plant Hellebores begin to come into bloom! These ultra-easy and extremely hardy Shade Plants make superb, long-lived perennials in the garden. Their foliage is semi-evergreen in the North and totally evergreen in the South.

Plus, they are 100% DEER PROOF! I’ve grown Hellebores for over 15 years and have had deer prance thru my garden chewing everything in site, BUT they have never touched a single Hellebore. This might be because their leaves are slightly toxic.

My Hellebores are all in greenhouses in Western Michigan and are beginning their flower show much earlier than plants outdoors. In most parts of the country, they’ll begin their flower show in late winter and continue for over 8 weeks.

Hellebores, with their dark green foliage, make superb companions to shade-loving plants like Heucheras, Hostas, Hardy Ferns, & Hydrangeas.

If you’ve never grown Hellebores, now is the perfect time to start! We’ve got over 13 colorful selections for you to choose from on our website at www.GreatGardenPlants.com !

Happy New Year to All!

Hostas are an all time favorite shade perennial – and quite honestly I’m pretty passionate about them.  I have found throughout my 25 years of gardening that I can plant them any time of the year the ground is not frozen.  They are as tough as a pair of old boots and speaking of boots you can even take an old pair and use them as a planter. I even dug out a few clumps one year in the middle of summer, left them in the garage, went on vacation for a week , then planted them and they did just fine

Hostas come in all kinds of sizes, shapes, colors and even blooms times.  Having grown over 300 of them at one time I do attest to some favorites.  Somebody once asked my what makes a Hosta a favorite – so here you go.

1)  I don’t  like those little holes that pop up all of a sudden in the leaves.  This is caused by slugs.   I have found over the years that slugs are drawn more to old varieties which have a thinner substance than many of the newer varieties with thicker substance.   As long as I know what  is filet mignon to them, I’ll stick with the newer stuff.

2)  Now that I’ve moved recently I have a lot more sunnier areas – so I like varieties that can do well in both sun and shade

3)  Hostas look great in the spring – but what about late summer & fall.  Hey – that’s when my gardening is really starting to kick in and sure don’t want any wimpy performers that start to shut down in August.

So here’s my I-can’t-live-without Hosta list:

June – nice medium size – just looks darn beautiful even into September

Stained Glass – wow can this take some sun  and the leaves are SO shiny

Touch of Class - the name says it all

Sum & Substance - no garden should be without this beauty – it just gets bigger & more impressive every year.

Regal Splendor – Its the vase shaped style this is just awesome.

TIP: Grows the best in well drained soil & moist conditions.

COMBINATION IDEAS: If I had only 3 plants to use in a shade garden, they would be Hostas, Ferns &  Hakonechloa macra Aureola

by Mary Walters. www.GreatGardenPlants.com.