I was wondering what everyone has in their hosta garden. I don't have new pics yet but I do have these growing with my hosta. Please add what you are growing and landscape shots.
Thanks,
Teresa in KY
Spiderwort
Japanese ferns
Impatients
Coleus
Gerber Daisy
Astible I love it but it never returns for me
Lamb's Ear
Sib Iris
Daylilies
Stoplight, Carmel, Silver Scrolls, Key Lime Pie, Cappicino and the regular coral bells
Hosta companion plants....what is in your hosta garden?
I've got a lot of ferns with my hosta- Japanese Painted, Lady in Red, Cinnamon and Ghost
Astilbe- Bridal Veil, Pink Lightning, Sprite, Key West
Solomon's Seal
Heuchera- Guardian Angel, Purple Petticoats, Dolce Peach Melba, Prince, Gypsy Dancer (my favorite, because it blooms little pink flowers all season)
Jack frost and variegated Brunnera
Actaea- Brunette, Atropurperea, Hillside Black Beauty
On another DG'ers recommendation, I just added a dwarf Aruncus, "Misty Lace", which I'm excited about...it's supposed to have longer lasting flowers than astilbe...I will take some pics when it blooms, which will be in the next few weeks
Lily of the Valley, but have that separated by a barrier
one little primula with chartreuse flowers ("Francesca"?), and I need to get a few more of those
Canadian wild ginger and sweet woodruff groundcovers
Hakone grass- the chartreuse one, and the mid-green one with the white stripe
that's all I can think of...my favorite combo is this one, with the ferns and Love Pat, and Bridal Veil astilbe
This message was edited May 11, 2009 7:24 AM
This message was edited May 11, 2009 7:25 AM
I have white sweet woodruff for a ground cover, wild ginger, lanium, ligularia lots of them, heucheras, jack in the pulpits, foamy flowers, japanese grass the bright green one, fern, primroses, solomon seals,purple palace heucheras, a few tulips were up. And I got these today to add for some darker colors really neat contrast.Ronna
My hostas are near a black walnut tree. I have some naturalized orange lilies, some tiger lilies, and I am trying butterfly weed, zinnia and hollyhock seeds. I am trying add some color.
I was wondering about making a new raised bed around one maple tree. How deep can you build the soil up before harming the tree?
If it is a soft regular maple don't do it. I did it and the feeder roots all came to the surface and killed all my plants. I took it apart and had three wheelbarrows full of roots. BEV
I wouldn't try it either. Can you dig holes and put potted hosta there?
I'm not sure that would work either Pirl. I had to put all of my pots of hostas on risers. They were under the walnut tree and the roots of the tree grew up through the holes in the bottom of the pots and waterlogged my poor hostas.
What a shame! Would a maple do the same thing?
Trees: oak, pine, fir, crab apple
Rhododendrons
Azaleas
Bleeding Heart
Fringed Bleeding Heart
Spiderwort "Concord Grape"
American Mayapple
Black Cohosh
Columbines
Canadian Wild Ginger
Painted Japanese Fern
As yet unidentified Fern
Astilbe "Fanal" and "Visions"
Primula hybrids
Early Meadowrue
Wild Geranium
Heuchera "Christa" and "Blackout"
Vinca minor
Asiatic Lily
Daffodil and Grape Hyacinth
Here's a picture taken last July.
Wow, nice planting! Love those stones. I have down mulch path and a sitting area. I wish I had done stones now. Maybe someday.
Teresa
Thanks for posting everyone.
Although we have hostas in many gardens it's this one most people like and, aside from many hostas, it includes:
several varieties of Euphorbia
many Heuchera
Golden Moneywort used as a ground cover at the front
Hydrangea Harlequin at the left end
Ginger
Epimedium
mosses
Hellebores
Ferns (love Maidenhair!)
Oxalis
Coleus cuttings
...and one rosemary plant at the sunnier portion, near the kitchen steps, because it's easy to get some even if it's raining!
Lovely, pirl. I can see why everybody likes it.
That is a very relaxing looking planting, Pirl. You mentioned rosemary, how do you make the little rosemary balls on a stem? Just trim as they grow?
Teresa in KY
Thanks.
The only rosemary in there is not in a ball shape. It's at the bottom at the top of the tiny piece of slate and it's so dark I can barely see it. If you tell me where the plant that you're questioning is located I can probably get a name for you, Teresa.
No, no I didn't see one. I thought if you grew rosemary, you might have one that is trimmed.
I've never even tried it, Teresa.
That's very nice, Pirl.
Ok, no hosta in this pic, but I like these with them...I will be moving these around soon and replacing the Brunnera with El Nino or First Frost. I planted the Brunnera here last year in place of HVX infected Halcyon.
Really enjoying your pics, everyone.
I have lots of shady areas and I do like companion plants among my hostas. I especially like Heucheras and all kinds of ferns (especially Maidenhair fern and Japanese Painted Fern) ... and of course Hakone Grass. Oh, and Solomon's Seal .... and Ginger. Astilbe and Fernleaf Bleeding Hearts are wonderful too.
Sandy
This is my first year to garden, so my bed is kind of empty. I'm still not sure how to space my plants. If I planted them too close together I guess I'll just dig em up and plant em somewhere else.
In this pic there's some encore azaleas, a little japanese maple, three august moon, and a golden tiara. The little purple/white flowers are alyssum.
Very healthy and happy looking Brunnera, Noreaster.
Sandy - I have ginger and Bridal Veil astilbe in with the hostas as well. I love the look of them.
Mc - better to have them spread out than too close. It's a nice neat bed and very well tended.
McChick, keep up the good work. You are off to a great start.
astilbe
trollius
trillium
ferns (various)
goatsbeard
viola (several)
lamium (white Nancy, Hermann's Pride, chequers)
forget me not
solomon's seal
lily of the valley (tiny bit)
allium
daylilies
asiatic lilies
hardy geranium
candle flower
tiarella
hardy cyclamen
heuchera (various)
hellebores
bleeding hearts
candytuft
columbine (several)
dianthus (on the border)
daffodils (on the border)
probably some more I can't think of right now...
Interesting thread. I thought, "Oh, we all probably have the same things." A lot are, but it's good to get ideas. Although, I can't grow quite a few that you all to the north can, and probably vice versa.
I, too, have ferns, heuchera, astilbes, hellebores, viola, hydrangea, impatiens (I have a great perennial one called Impatiens arguta 'Blue Dream.' But also, gardenia, brugmansia, Clerodendrum bungei (a pretty thug), Clerodendron speciosissimum, Cat Whiskers (Orthosiphon stamineus), asiatic crinum, calla lilies, spigelia marilandica, fire spike (Odontonema strictum), ardesia, begonia, fatsia (regular and variegated), Piper auritum (another thug) and several farfugium and ligularia.
Noreaster - I don't have Brunnera. Were the little blue flowers its blooms or Forget-me-nots?
McChicken, love your flagstone walkway, and your bed looks good...you are gonna love that maple, we have one too. Everything looks spaced fine, but you are right, if it doesn't work out, you move it, no big deal!
ViolaAnn, brunnera has forget-me-not type blooms, so those little blue flowers belong to the plant. I love brunnera, and I keep wanting to buy a few, but I haven't had room in my budget just yet. :)
Planted with my hostas:
ferns
astilbes
violas
Solomon's seal
bleeding heart (dicentra spectabilis)
trillium
ajuga 'Burgundy Glow'
campanula persicifolia
Dutchman's breeches
Northern bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
heuchera
pulmonaria
Hmmm...I see no one has mentioned conifers yet (unless I missed it)! I'll take pics of some of my shade tolerant conifers and post them.
Elizabeth
Isn't this a pretty and odd little thing? An all white stalk of Solomon's Seal. It came up this way last year, too
Wow, Noreaster...that's cool! So, it's one stalk on an otherwise variegated plant?
Yes, here is the whole group of it...the all white stalk is shorter than the rest. It started as one plant and has spread out.
very nice mcchicken! Wow nice new garden. Keep up the great work. remeber to post ore photos we love to see.
These are syneilesis aconitifolium - my husband calls them umbrella plants. Here is the emergent form. I will also post the mature form. These are great hosta companions. They are so neat when they emerge. These are about 4-5" tall. These are striking next to Komodo Dragon hostas.
Here are the syneilesis plants this week. The do get a flower bunch at the top later but they are rather unremarkable. They are about 30" tall right now and will get a little taller. They spread well, I think by underground rhizomes.
I have daylilies, Asiatic lilies, Lungwort, a very small and young bleeding heart, some Dutch Iris (which I have pulled), and even a calla lily in mine.
I have most of the plants listed above as well as Liatris, siberian iris, epimediums, filipendulas, trilliums, tricyrtis, trout lilies, asiatic and oriental lilies, daylilies, peonies, roses,Baptisia, TB Iris, geraniums, violas and many others small ground covers.
I like to stretch the limits. I have many sunloving plants mixed in with mine that are in dappled shade. Steve, I have had callas before but they didn't return :(
Also, I have one sitting area with a small group of tropicals. I love the jungle look!
I really like that syneilesis. I've been admiring it in the Plant Delights catalog for a while.
The brunnera 'Jack Frost' is lovely, but it's not supposed to grow past a zone 7, so I hadn't seen it down here. I strolled into Lowe's and they had it (they are notorious for selling stuff that won't do well in this area.) I had to buy it... We'll see how it does.
Here's a pic of my front yard from a few minutes ago. It's not very old, a couple years, and it's flat as a pancake down here. It's not very interesting, but hopefully it will get there.
It looks like a very lovely shady retreat and to my eyes doesn't appear flat due to the mounds of hosta. Wonderful! What is the center front one with the dark edges? It's a beauty.
Pirl-
Thanks! That center front one is 'Lakeside Shoremaster.' It's really a gem. The hostas with blue seem to hold on the longest, and this one will look just like this from the time it emerges in April until frost (about Thanksgiving.)
Jenny