Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Sun hardy hostas

As almost all parts of the garden are sunny at noon, I have much experience concerning the sun tolerance of hostas. And I have to tell that some of them surprisingly well tolerate strong sunshine.

Hosta plantagineaThe absolute record-holder is undoubtedly Hosta plantaginea. You can plant it in full sun, and it even tolerates dryness. In late summer it produces white flowers with a strong fragrance. It grows 60-80 cm in height, but at least 120-150 cm in width.

Hosta FranceeHosta Francee. At us it is in sun from morning till afternoon, but in Daves Garden some people write of having put it in full sun. It starts to blossom in late July. It blossoms long, and even its dry flower stems are so beautiful that I never cut them. In size it is more or less the same as plantaginea.

1 comment:

Jeff Branch said...

I have a Francee that is old and quite large and it has adapted to the Alabama heat very well. It is at the edge of a shade area so it gets some sun.

I don't have plantaginea yet, but I have heard that this one does well as far south as Florida.