Hostas are essentially woodland plants and flourish best in shady, well-drained (but not dry) soil.
Hostas enjoy a long season, usually emerging in April, and will continue to give pleasure long after other plants have died back. Indeed, many of the fragrant varieties come to their peak towards late summer.

• Spring growth is a welcome sight, as the new shoots poke their heads above the chilly soil. Even at this stage, the different varieties are striving to show off their individuality.
  
• Summer is abundant as the hostas mature and the full value of them as architectural and accent plants, comes to the fore.
  
• Autumn colour is glorious with most varieties giving a last flourish before entering their dormant phase, which last year wasn't until mid-November.

Creating shade
The problem of shade is easily overcome by under-planting existing shrubs and trees with hostas. If your garden is devoid of shady areas then perhaps pots are a good way to house your hostas until other planting has matured enough for you to pop your hostas in the ground. Pots can be left alongside walls and fences out of direct sun - indeed why not locate some pots under pergolas and grow some vigorous climbers, such as ivy or clematis to provide shade. We have done this to great effect, even using patio umbrellas in the heat of the day!

Hostas look equally stunning in pots but you
must ensure they do not dry out - they are less demanding on water than hanging baskets but should be watered at least a couple of times a week. Water more often when the weather is as dry and hot as we experienced last year.

Hosta care
Hostas are extremely tolerant plants but you cannot expect them to sit in water for prolonged periods or bake in full sun. Having said that, some varieties are proving able to withstand full sun, as we found during last year's show season.
Experience suggests to us that if a hosta has cool roots and adequate moisture, it will take a reasonable amount of early morning and late afternoon sun. However, if you prefer the blue cultivars then the more shade you can give them the better as this is what allows the bloom to develop on the leaves.

If your hosta is showing signs of stress, i.e:

• the leaves have developed brown edges
• there is a proliferation of small leaves in the centre of the plant mound
• flowering is occurring before the leaves have emerged (if this happens, remove the flower head above the first pair of leaves)

Don't be afraid to split the plant as splitting is easy and the plants re-establish quickly, so before long you will have several plants from that single purchase.

Infinite variety
Many hostas change colour and/or variegation throughout the season - there are special terms for this:

• Viridescent: varieties that begin the season with a distinct variegation and gradually lose it as the season progresses.
  
• Lutescent: varieties that begin the season with plain leaves, which then develop variegation as the season progresses. Many lutescent varieties have the added bonus of fragrant flowers.
  
• Albescent: varieties which become paler as the season progresses.

It is often difficult to choose with so many varieties now commercially available. If you are at a loss then do consult us as we would be happy to try to steer to you towards varieties that suit your growing conditions and demands. The best way to do this is to visit us at the nursery where we can spend some time with you. This year we are opening the nursery most Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays unless we are all at shows and we welcome visitors outside of these times by appointment - see side column for dates.
We look forward to seeing you this year.