How to choose a hosta to grow in your garden

Hostas vary greatly in size, from the very small, like 'Tiny Tears' that grows only five centimetres (two inches) high, to the huge, like 'Sum and Substance' that grows 75 centimetres (29.5 inches) tall and 150 centimetres (59 inches) across. Read on to learn how to choose the right variety for your garden.

Leaf colour varies from a very glaucous blue, through dark, mid, and light green to shades of yellow, depending on the variety. The most popular forms of hostas are those with variegated foliage. The leaf colour determines to an extent where to locate a specific variety.

Forms with blue foliage need shade and will burn badly if planted in full sun, even in the north. Yellow foliage, on the other hand, is more sun tolerant and these varieties can take a considerable amount of sunshine — all day in the north and only needing midday shade in warmer regions.

Variegated forms differ in their tolerance to sun.  Variegated hostas do a wonderful job of brightening up shady areas, either on the north side of the house or under shrubs. Adding the occasional blue-leaved variety will give contrast.

Although they are grown chiefly for their foliage, many varieties have attractive flowers. These vary from white, through shades of lilac, to a red-tinged mauve and purple. They also vary in shape from starlike to tubular.

A few, like 'Honeybells' and 'Sugar and Cream' even have fragrant flowers. Depending on the variety, they bloom from midsummer onward, with the fragrant H. plantaginea being the last to bloom in early fall.

Hostas make good ground cover, and varieties such as 'Groundmaster' and 'Francee' spread slowly by underground runners. Even in quite sunny locations the green lance-leaved hosta (H. lancifolia) will quickly make a dense carpet.

The readily available H. undulata 'Univittata', which has mid-green leaves with a large irregular white middle, will also take considerable sun and makes a good ground cover or edging plant.

Providing they are given adequate water until well established, some varieties of hosta will grow well in dry shade. This may be shaded areas in regions where the summers are arid, or in locations, such as under a large tree that sheds rainfall and has roots close to the surface.

Variegated forms, such as undulate 'Albo-marginata', 'Francee', and 'Ginko Craig' will do well as will blue forms like 'Blue Boy' and 'Blue Angel', and green ones like 'Candy Hearts', lancifolia, and tokudama.

Other varieties will definitely grow well in moist locations, not actually with their roots in water, but close to a pond or stream where the soil is always moist. Try fortunei 'Aureo-marginata', 'Tall Boy', or the yellow 'Sum and Substance' in this sort of situation. These varieties will grow equally well in normal garden soil.

There are a number of varieties suitable for growing in a shaded rock garden, or in a small trough garden. All of the following are under 25 centimetres (10 inches) in height.

• 'Blue Moon' is blue-green with bell-shaped white flowers
• 'Chartreuse Wiggles' has bright green leaves with wavy edges and purple flowers
• 'Elfin Power' is a mid-green with the leaves edged with white, and lavender flowers
• 'Lemon Lime' has bright lime green to yellow leaves, with bell-shaped purple flowers
• 'Saishu Jima' is named for an island off the Korean peninsula and has mid-green leaves and purple flowers
• 'Vanilla Cream' is yellow with wavy-edged leaves and lavender flowers
• There are many other small varieties available from specialist growers