Hosta often get sold short because people think they’ve seen all the hostas that they want to see and often tell me; “I’ve got hosta, I don’t need anymore hosta!” When in fact they simply are not familiar with all of the really interesting varieties of hosta that are out there and not usually available in your typical garden store.
In the above photo the small yellow hosta off to the left are Mini Skirt. The large green ones behind those are Big Daddy. The bluish green ones in the middle of the photo are Blue Mouse Ears. The large green/blue hosta in the top right of the photo are Blue Angel. And the green in yellow hosta on the right are Island Breeze. The shrub in the center with the orange/yellow leaves is a Gold Flame Spirea.
Hosta are typically propagated by division. In other words, just dig them up and using a spade or large knife cut them into divisions leaving from one to three eyes per division.
I don’t usually do that because it’s a bit labor intensive and you need bed space to grow them out before you can divide them. So what do I do? I buy them as small plugs from wholesale growers. I usually pay around $1.50 per plant or maybe $2.25 for the larger, more difficult to find varieties.
And some Hosta are patented which makes it against the law for you or I to propagate them while they are Still Under Patent. Details about that Here.
Many of the really big growers, the wholesalers that I buy from, they start with tissue culture plants. Which is pretty much along the same lines as a “Test Tube Baby”. With tissue culture new plants are created in a laboratory using just a few cells from the desired variety.
I let the big wholesalers deal with those itty bitty, frail little plants then I give them a small amount of money for a plant that is large enough to plant out. In the Buy/Sell Area of Our Members Area many of the plants that you see featured on this page are available from time to time for just a few dollars each. That’s just one of the perks of being a member, being able to buy beautiful plants at wholesale pricing in small quantities.
On this page I’d like to feature some of my favorite Hosta varieties and I’ll add more as time goes on.
If you have questions, comments or mean things to say, post them below and I will respond.
I am looking for a Hosta Sum Substance Hosta. The leaves are huge. I had one for about 5/6 years. And it died….