Garden Photo of the Day

Who needs hostas??

Michelle Gervais, Associate Editor

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Photo: Michelle Gervais

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Why spend all that money on gourmet hostas when you can just go down to the local garden center and buy a 6-pack of cabbage or kale? Seriously, though, great hostas are expensive. While you build your collection, satisfy your penchant for bold foliage with a few cheap stand-ins like this. Other cheap and bold foliage to try? Large flowering tobacco (Nicotiana sylvestris, annual), and rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) are both beefy and fabulous. Got any more suggestions?

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Comments (5)

jwtrent writes: Just find some friends that will let you collect some seeds and grow your own. Posted: 10:51 am on September 20th

Sissinghurst writes: Be careful where you buy your Hostas. Hostas bought in bulk can very well contain SUV virus. When planted in the ground or cut with the same sheers, this virus can easily be spread to your healthy hostas. This Virus distorts the leaf pattern and get a really washed out look. Additionally, serious Hosta collectors dont trade plants unless they know the person very well and how they care for their hostas. We also only buy from reputable growers, we dont buy from box stores or bulk sellers. Normally these plants are grown and harvested in the Netherlands. They are dug using mechanical equipment, thus spreading the virus to other hostas.
Most Hostas grown in the USA are from reputable growers, they go through a tissue culture process, this process strip the plants of any disease prior to them being grown in half gallon pots.There might be grower out there who dont care and is the reason to only buy from good sources. Know where your hostas come from ...
This why we pay more for Hostas! Posted: 1:43 pm on September 18th

CLAUDIA1 writes: SNAILS EAT MY HOSTA'S LIKE CANDY--HAVE HAD TO RESORT TO PLANTING THEM IN HANGING POTS. I GOT MINE FROM GILBERTHWILD IN MO. BY HANDFUL--UNLABELED BUT GOOD SELECTION--LIKE 15 FOR $30. A SOLUTION FOR SNAILS--USE HAND SPRAYER--1/4 AMONIA --3/4 WATER. AND GET UP EARLY IN THE MORNING--SPRAY THEM--IT REALLY WORKS ! Posted: 12:06 pm on September 15th

Vespasia writes: I don't think Hostas are expensive at all. I had one of the varigated leaf kind as in the picture and now, through division, necessary as they grow so well I have about eight and have given some away. I have also been given some, we do a lot of plant exchange in my neighbourhood. This applies to all my Hostas, one of my garden favourites.

Incidentally this has been a great year for Hostas both for bloom and for the fact that they have not eaten by slugs as usual, not sure why! Posted: 10:19 am on September 15th

snewman622 writes: Do slugs eat the Kale also? Posted: 9:29 am on September 15th

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