Hosta Species

On Feb 4, 2014, coriaceous from ROSLINDALE, MA wrote:

This is one of my favorite hostas and one of the best fragrant garden plants. It blooms for over a month, August-September, which accounts for its common name, August lily. The fragrance is strong and sweet and carries well on the air, with no heaviness to the scent.

The 5" long white trumpets are lovely, though they hang on long after they fade and make the planting look scruffy unless plucked almost daily. (I don't like the look of most hostas when their flowers are faded.)

The double-flowered cultivar 'Aphrodite' has been heavily promoted, but its performance is decidedly inferior to the plain species, as few people garden in a climate that allows its flower buds to open properly.

The foliage is handsome and well complements that of variegate... read mored hostas. Most gardeners fill a planting with nothing but variegated-leaf hostas. The result is like a stage full of primadonnas with no chorus to back them up---a visual cacophany.

Vigorous and fast growing. More sun tolerant than most, though I've seen plants on a sunny south slope (Boston Z6a) get smaller year by year. The leaf color is more yellow-green than most hostas without being truly chartreuse, but it looks great in the right context.

This hosta differs from most others in 3 other important respects:

1) It rises earlier in the season, which matters if you're using it to cover fading bulb foliage. It's a good companion for the little early spring bulbs and the earliest daffodils, but not for anything that's later.

2) It produces foliage in flushes all through the season. There are always fresh leaves coming on to cover any midseason mishaps. And you can divide any time the ground is workable and not have to wait for another season to have good foliage.

3) Unlike most hostas, it has no winter dormancy requirement. This means that it can be grown further south than most hostas, especially on the west coast. I don't know if it has a southern limit where the heat of summer isn't limiting, but it's further south than the Z8a indicated above.

On Jan 23, 2007, ademink from Indianapolis, IN wrote:

I love this hosta and just harvested seeds for the first time this Fall. I planted them and they germinated and are growing in just 7 short days! I'm very excited to see what seedlings are produced. This is a hosta that everyone should own. I have them in a spot that has shade a good part of the day until late afternoon. These tough guys weather that western afternoon sun like a champ! Fragrant and yes, they DO attract hummingbirds and butterflies!

On Jan 22, 2006, joegee from Bucyrus, OH (Zone 6a) wrote:

This is one of my favorite flowers. Planted on the north side of my house, these hostas fill late summer evenings with an incredibly rich, sweet (but not cloying to my nose) perfume that can be smelled yards away. Their attractive, heart shaped, knee high lime-yellow/green foliage and the three to four foot high spikes of pure white flowers draw the eye like a beacon into the summer late-evening shadows. The show of nocturnal flowers lasts most of the month of August.

I almost forgot to mention, these flowers draw hummingbirds. During the evenings, and on overcast summer days when the flowers are open hummingbirds surround them.

On Jan 11, 2005, lmelling from Ithaca, NY (Zone 5b) wrote:

Hosta plantaginea is noted as a large mound of shiny green foliage; large fragrant, nocturnal, white flowers in August. Mound size runs 25" high by 57" wide.

Leaves are 11" long by 7-3/8" wide, and a medium to light green with a shiny top and underside. Blade is ovate to broadly ovate with a deeply lobed base and distinct tip. Margins are slightly wavy and the leaf has a smooth texture; no purple dots on petioles and an average substance with 9-11 vein pairs.

Flowers in mid August to early September. Flowers are pure white, trumpet shaped, nocturnal and very fragrant. They begin blooming at sundown, open until late afternoon of the second day on scapes ranging from 18" to 34" high. Some seed pods are formed - largest pods of any hosta at 2-3/4" long by 3... read more/8" wide.

This hosta is said to be perhaps the most horticulturally significant of the last 200 years. It was one of the first hostas introduced into cultivation in Europe, and became an integral part of American garding over 100 years ago. According to Zilis in The Hosta Handbook, Hosta plantaginea is so distinct that only 'Aphrodite', 'Royal Standard', 'Invincible', and 'Fried Green Tomatoes' would be acceptable substitutes for it in the landscape.

On Jun 30, 2003, mahans30 from Kalamazoo, MI wrote:

I have successfully grown this plant in full-sun to full shade. Performs best with some afternoon shade.