The Hosta is a Favorite Shade-Loving Perennial

The hosta is one of the most sought after shade perennials on the market today. This herbaceous perennial's popularity and vast amounts of cultivars almost rival that of the daylily. Part of the hosta's popularity is its ability to really stand out in the shade during the entire growing season. The hosta is grown mainly for its stunning foliage in shades of green, blue, white and gold in solid and variegated varieties. Although it's best known for beautiful leaves, it also blooms in the summer.

Tall flower spikes rise above the foliage in shades of lavender and white. The flowers are actually quite pretty, even though they don't get as much recognition as the hosta foliage. The flowers are especially noticeable when the hosta is planted in mass groupings. Several of the varieties of hosta also have very fragrant blooms as an added bonus. Hosta growers are working to breed new cultivars with larger and more attractive flowers.

Climate and zone consideration

Although the hosta can tolerate some sun, most all of the cultivars require a certain amount of shade, especially from the hot afternoon sun. The summer climate varies quite a lot from the northern and southern parts of the United States. This should be taken into consideration when choosing the hosta's location. The hosta actually suffers more from the extreme heat of southern zones and therefore needs more shade and water. The hosta grown in the northern zones will be more tolerant of sun.

The foliage on the hosta is very reminiscent of tropical foliage, but this perennial is far from being tropical. In fact, one of the hosta's main requirements is a period of dormancy during the winter months. This dormancy period can't occur in the most southern zones of semitropical regions. For this reason the hosta is classified as hardy from Zones 2 to 7 on the USDA Zone map in most publications, and it is sometimes listed as hardy to Zone 8 in others.

Thousands of Cultivars