Hostas: It's not Always About the Leaves

By Larry Rettig (LarryR)
May 18, 2012

In his much heralded reference book, "The Hostapedia"*, Mark Zilis lists 7,400 hostas, most differing in leaf shape, size, color, variegation pattern, texture, or some combination of those leaf attributes.

(Editor's Note:This article was originally published on August 17, 2009.  Your comments are welcome, but please be aware that authors of previously published articles may not be able to respond to your questions.)

Given such a staggering number of different leaves and the phenomenal--dare I say fanatical--interest in them, it's hard to believe that hostas were originally grown for their flowers.  One of the first hostas to reach Europe was the old standby, Hosta plantaginea, with its plain green leaves.  It was especially valued for its fragrant white blossoms. *Zilis, Mark R. The Hostapedia, Q & Z Nursery, Inc., Rochelle, IL, 2009.

HOSTA HISTORY         Hosta plantaginea in author's garden Hostas originally came from China, Japan , and Korea, where they're native.  The first Westerner ever to see a hosta was Englebert Kaempfer (1651-1715), a doctor and botanist with the Dutch East India Company.  He sketched them, wrote descriptions of them, and even named them.  To one he gave the impossibly long moniker, 'Joksan, vulgo gibbooshi Gladiolus Plantagenis folio,' which translates approximately as "the common hosta with the plantain-like leaves."  He named another 'Gibbooshi altera,' meaning simply "the other hosta."  A second doctor and botanist, Carl Thunberg (1743-1828), who worked at the Dutch East India Company's trading post in Japan, renamed Kaempfer's two hostas in the then-new Linnaean style, giving them both a genus and a species name, for example Aletris japonica.  Known today as Hosta lancifolia, it's reputed to be the first hosta on American soil. In 1822, the Austrian botanist Leopold Trattinick (1761-1848) proposed the generic name "Hosta" to honor Nicholas Thomas Host (1761-1834) of Austria.  Host was also a botanist and the author of "Flora Austriaca." Like Kaempfer and Thunberg, he was a trained physician, rising to the post of Physician to the Emperor Frances II.  Other names for Hosta followed, including "Funkia" and "Plantain Lily," but "Hosta" eventually became the universally accepted name for this popular and long-lived perennial. ABOUT THE FLOWERS Hostas bloom in summer with spikes of lavender to white, lily-like flowers.  Some gardeners regularly cut these spikes as soon as they appear, so that they don't distract from the showy leaves and the mounded habit of the plant.  I grant them this preference, with the caveat that it isn't always about the leaves.  I prefer to allow all of my hostas to flower.  Not only do the flowers add color and interest to shady locations, letting them go to seed and allowing them to self-sow, if they wish, has produced some interesting and garden worthy specimens. Some hosta flowers can be quite showy and deserve more attention from gardeners than they seem to be getting.  Listed below are hostas with particularly showy, double blossoms.              NAME     HORTICULTURAL      INFORMATION   PLANT VENDORS  Aphrodite  DG Plant  Files (Click)   DG Sources   (Click)  Athena  DG Plant Files   Source 1, 2 (Click   number)  Brazen Hussy  DG Plant Files   None found  Fujibotan  DG Plant Files   DG Sources  Montana*  DG Plant Files   DG Sources  Royal Super  DG Plant Files   Source 1, 2  Venus  DG Plant Files   DG Sources     *Only occasionally double The following table lists hostas with particularly beautiful single flowers:              NAME     HORTICULTURAL      INFORMATION   PLANT VENDORS  Candle Wax    DG Plant Files   Source 1, 2  Lakeside Hoola  Hoop   DG Plant Files   DG Source, 2, 3  Lemon Lime   DG Plant Files   DG Sources  Plantaginea   DG Plant Files   DG Sources  Ventricosa   DG Plant Files   DG Sources Fragrance is another pleasing floral aspect of hostas that may be overlooked in the general focus that gardeners put on the leaves.  Fragrant-flowered hostas number over 100.  Click here for an extensive listing.  ABOUT THE STEMS Colorful hosta leaf stems impart a more subtle beauty.  Not always apparent at first glance, the red speckling or solid color on the leaf stems, which sometimes trails off onto the base of the leaf, are a delight to discover.  There are relatively few hostas in cultivation that have this characteristic.  Here are four:              NAME     HORTICULTURAL      INFORMATION   PLANT VENDORS  Fire Island   DG Plant Files   DG Sources  Katsuragawa Beni   DG Plant Files   DG Source, 2, 3  Little Red Rooster   DG Plant Files   Source 1, 2  Red October   DG Plant Files   DG Sources  PIZAZZ Add some pizazz to your hosta garden by incorporating any one of these special hostas.  If you're a relative newcomer to hostas, think beyond the leaves and discover a special beauty you never knew existed.  It's not too late to do it yet this year.  Hostas transplant easily most any time during the growing season.  Garden centers may even have one or more of these beauties at reduced prices at the tail end of the season.  If not, you can order them from the linked sources in the tables above.  Happy growing! WAITING IN THE WINGS? Author's note:  I've been watching with interest--and, I admit, with some excitement--the recent development of outstanding colors, variegations, and sizes of Heuchera leaves.  Like the hosta, Heucheras were originally prized for their flowers, having rather ordinary green leaves.  Will history repeat itself?  Will heuchera become the next hosta?  Stay tuned. Thanks to the following DG members for the use of their photos: ViolaAnn for 'Venus,' Bert for 'Candle Wax,' Joy for 'Lakeside Hoola Hoop,' largosmom for 'Lemon Lime,' Mctavish for 'Fire Island,' Justaysam for 'Katsuragawa Beni,' jody for 'Little Red Rooster,' KevinMc for 'Red October' Wikimedia for 'Ventricosa' For a list of DG articles mentioning hostas, click here.

Hosta 'Fujibotan' in author's garden                        Aphrodite                           Venus                       Candle Wax                Lakeside Hoola Hoop                        Lemon Lime                          Ventricosa                        Fire Island                  Katsuragawa Beni                   Little Red Rooster                       Red October

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© Larry Rettig 2009

About Larry Rettig   An enthusiastic gardener for over 50 years, my first plant was a potted Ponderosa Lemon tree ordered from a comic book ad at age 15. I still have it, and it’s still bearing lemons! My wife and I garden on 3/4 of an acre, both flowers and vegetables. Although our garden is private, it's listed with the Smithsonian Institution in its Archives of American Gardens and is on the National Register of Historic Places. We garden organically and no-till. Our vegetable garden contains a seed bank of vegetables brought to this country from Germany in the mid-1800s. For more info: http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/m/LarryR/. Photos that appear in my articles without credit are my own.

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Discussion about this article:

Subject Topic Starter Replies Views Last Post Hosta Care jh4215 6 72 Jul 20, 2012 9:47 PM Thanks for your article edyhill 3 24 May 21, 2012 11:00 PM Almost pulled out the Hostas laralea 0 7 May 21, 2012 3:45 PM What animals besides deer eat hosta? NanaZuzu 2 22 May 21, 2012 9:27 AM hostas daphnep 5 49 Oct 25, 2009 11:01 PM Gramma's Green Hosta Elwaysgrammie 1 16 Sep 19, 2009 9:22 PM hosta blooms DiggerDee 4 41 Aug 23, 2009 6:57 PM Informative Article! Petalpants 1 17 Aug 21, 2009 8:42 PM now I see why hostas are so popular! zonkel 3 62 Aug 21, 2009 8:26 PM hostas urrr berginias ucmg 1 17 Aug 19, 2009 3:35 AM Hostas in hairnets! coastalgarden 5 110 Aug 19, 2009 3:32 AM Yes! sanannie 2 42 Aug 19, 2009 3:24 AM Next article postmandug 2 32 Aug 17, 2009 11:29 PM WOW dallasmastergar 0 48 Aug 17, 2009 2:40 PM Hosta candyinpok 0 47 Aug 17, 2009 11:32 AM

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