Hostas

Are all Hostas perennials?

Yes

Not only that, ours look immortal, despite the dogs' and deer best efforts )

They're a salad bar for all the creatures around here, especially the deer. We have tons of hosta, planted years ago by the original owners. Weren't there any deer around here in 1917? We spray our hosta several times during the season with deer/rodent repellent,otherwise we'd have chewed up messes.

blueheeler said:
Not only that, ours look immortal, despite the dogs' and deer best efforts )

Yep!!

Yes, but I have managed to kill a couple, believe it or not. And no, I was not trying to kill them. I actually paid for them .

Mine refuse to go away. I have been actively trying to clear out and get rid of a bunch of them. We just recently had a large landscaping job done and they filled in some empty space with... you guessed it... HOSTAS. omg.

But on the positive side, the hostas are one of the few things that can keep the pachysandra held back! (previous owners planted LOTS of both of these in the shady parts of the property. We've been dividing the hostas and moving them around for 30 years now - wherever there's a spot where nothing else wants to grow, we plop in one of the divided hostas).

Besides being a great ground cover and a tough survivor, a lot of hostas have very pretty foliage. This is one of my favorite hostas

https://greenmountainhosta.com/catalog/images/June.jpg

dg64 said:
Besides being a great ground cover and a tough survivor, a lot of hostas have very pretty foliage. This is one of my favorite hostas
https://greenmountainhosta.com/catalog/images/June.jpg

That's true, some are very attractive. Ours are not. Like many things done by our previous house flippers, they seemed to choose the least expensive and least attractive option!

I love hostas, especially the great colors that are coming out recently. There are blue-gray ones and lemony-yellow-green ones, as well as a huge range of variegated leaves. We can't really do much with them at our new house because we have so little shade now, but at our old homes we used a ton of hostas and ferns. Then, of course, the deer found out about the all-you-can-eat hosta buffet.

I know hostas aren't the most exciting things in the garden, but they fill in where other things won't grow, have nice green coverage mid-spring though the first frost, the bees seem to like their flowers quite a lot and they keep the weeds down in their areas. They're sort of like the alto section in the chorus - they make everything else look good, do their own thing unobtrusively and you don't really notice them unless they aren't there.

For those that have shade, a lovely MOLer shared some wild geraniums with me a couple of years ago. They are as easy to care for as Hostas and a great alternative. They do well in shade with little or no maintenance, they have lovely little flowers, and they will fill up flower beds in nice foliage. They are the first plants out in the Spring and the last out in the fall. They also spread easily and they are easy to remove or move to new locations. In this picture the little they are the plants with the little pink flowers. The also smell great!

cody said:
I know hostas aren't the most exciting things in the garden, but they fill in where other things won't grow, have nice green coverage mid-spring though the first frost, the bees seem to like their flowers quite a lot and they keep the weeds down in their areas. They're sort of like the alto section in the chorus - they make everything else look good, do their own thing unobtrusively and you don't really notice them unless they aren't there.

My only real issue with them is when they flower. Then they are the opposite of unobtrusive - I feel like their spindly arms are taking over my yard!

Geraniums are great for shade and sun too. Here is a shaded area in our yard where we mixed geraniums with hostas and grasses.

The bees seem to love them when they flower, so I like that. When the blooms fade, I just cut the flower stalks down to the level of the leaves on the hostas in the front of the house. Those in back, I let nature take its course. We've also been experimenting with other shade-loving plants, but bleeding hearts and pulmonaria don't have the 3-month span of the hostas. I like ferns for shady places, too. They always look so calm and green and restful.

Do all ferns do well in shade?

Thread drift: does anyone remember who was taking lanscape design/architecture courses and posted about it here a few years ago? Was it Oldstone

It was Oldstone. I miss him

calliope said:
It was Oldstone. I miss him

Thanks Calliope

If anyone would like some hosta, I have plenty in my garden that I would like to get rid of. I don't much like them and would love to let anyone who does dig them up and take them. PM me if you want them.

gerryl said:
Do all ferns do well in shade?

I think so. If you are considering buying some, just look at the tag to see what conditions they like. I do think of ferns as shade plants, though.

I have several of that green mountain hosta and some gorgeous tall, sturdy ''giant blue'' things. i forget the real name but they are GORGEOUS and so incredibly easy to maintain. I wish I knew how to post pix. Darnnit.

The deer seem to turn their noses up at the really thick, highly textured hosta leaves, so that's a good way to go for future plantings. At least, they eat the tender ones first.

Here are mine totally wiped out by last year's hail, but came back even stronger this year! I absolutely LOVE them, especially since NOTHING wants to grow in my yard, even grass is difficult to grow there!!

Yeah, hostas are really good that way. I found some new spots in our new yard where I can plant hostas, so I think I need to go to the nursery and get some.

What should one do with hostas as they deteriorate in the fall? Simply trim them to ground level?

That would probably be fine. I just let them fade and fall down, then as they dry out, I rake them up with the falling leaves.

I do same as Peggy

PeggyC said:
That would probably be fine. I just let them fade and fall down, then as they dry out, I rake them up with the falling leaves.

very pretty hosta garden, seaweed. thanks for sharing!