Plant Profile: Hosta plantaginea var. japonica

I have the pleasure to garden elsewhere, outside my own little garden. At this time of year, I truly enjoy working at this location:

Hosta plantaginea has to have the most fragrant flowers I've ever come across. At this location, there are about 34 hostas all blooming at once. The fragrance is intense.

The blooms fill the palm of my hand. They are so large. I believe this one is 'Grandiflora'.

Bending over from the rain dew drops, they are just lovely.

Once open, the flowers invite your nose to take a sample of their light citrus scent.

Too boot, I have taken a sample to taste. Really light, fresh taste. Would go great as a salad topper or even for a floral cake design.

On one Hosta, I counted over 23 blooms and buds. They flower for about a month, even longer - depending on the moisture levels.

Due note: because the Hosta plantanginea varieties are thin leaved hostas, please make sure you take measures to control slug and snail infestations. They can be slug bait in the wrong situation.  Planting in a group maximizes their flower fragrance as well as they will attract hummingbirds when there are more flowers to go around.

What's wrong with my Hosta?

I have several hostas in which I acquired through purchasing my home. I decided to leave them, as they were all a lovely size and situated just right.

However, at this time of year, they do this:

Half of the leaves flop in the wind and become unsightly. Losing the great habit that Hostas are known for.

If you already haven't noticed, they are riddled with holes.

Not only are the leaves damaged but the stems.

The leaf stems are weakened from slugs feeding voraciously.

The stems become weak and with the wind, the leaves bend with no strength and make the Hosta look unsightly.

Nearly, at the base of each leave stem, you find a tiny slug. This one made it into my pail of salt water this morning.

I have used: slug bait, beer baits, hair, coffee grounds...you name it. Now resorting to early morning hand picking.

Thankfully, my other slug resistant Hostas are thriving and show no signs of this damage.

If this had occurred before mid July, I would have cut the Hosta back to the ground and let it re-foliate. But given it's mid August, I will remove the worst of the leaves and continue the battle against slugs. :(

Moral of the story:  buy slug resistant Hostas!

The Trouble With Heucheras

Heucheras have to be one of my favourite perennials. Except when they do this: Heave

My hand can wrap itself around the base of the Heuchera's crown. The crown has heaved that much!

If left like this, the Heuchera begins to fade and become weakened. I planted several cultivars: Caramel, Obsidian, Palace Purple....they all need help this year.

I find, heaving happens to heucheras when the soil they are planted in is not friable and loose. Compacted or sandy soil (like mine) or sometimes heaps of snow on top, cause this heaving and the end result showing in the above photo. It doesn't help that I have dappled shade all day. But there are ways to overcome this.

Don't be like me last year and wait too long - once the heat came in June, I lost two of my favourite cultivars. Today, it's time to pull them up.

Gently lift them and examine the crown. Like geraniums, they have a real fleshy, stalky crown which will have small mini plantlets which you can divide, as I did.

It's important to take off all the dead leaves. Heucheras are semi evergreen and like hellebores, they need to have many of their overwintering leaves removed to prevent decay of the stem/root mass. Pull them gently off the stem like you would lettuce leaves. Start at the bottom and work your way up. You'll see concentrated new growth and leaves emerging from the centre.

(The one great aspect when digging them up: you get to have more plants!)

Be thorough. With your fingers, remove any callused or flakey bits around the stem - by doing this, you'll reveal tender, fleshy white nodes that will produce new baby plantlets and roots.

Dig a bigger hole, more deeper and add organic matter, like compost or composted manure.  Water thoroughly to remove air pockets and wait a few weeks to see them bounce back.

In a week or two, this Heuchera will bounce back, doubling in size. Richer colour and a more robust habit will allow you to enjoy the plant for many years to come.

In my experience, other plants like Tiarellas and Heucherellas don't heave. But, I can't part with having Heucheras. They brighten and colour the garden like very few shade loving plants. They are the most disease and bug resistant of perennials. They may be a bit more work to take care of, yet totally worth it.

Heidi's Helpful Hints #1 Baby Divisions or Seedlings

A late season score: I found these gems in a compost pile out for pick-up in my 'hood: rejects of Echinacea. My eye caught them before curb collection. Nine plants in total.

Be sure to examine all the leaves and the roots to find any issues; disease or possible rot. Discard if so.

This is the hint:  even though there are a bunch of tiny plants, instead of planting them separately and having to wait ages until they bulk up - group them instead. Here I've clustered the separate plants together, making two groupings.

Dig a large enough hole and place all the divisions together, making sure you don't squish them, allowing just enough space for adequate root growth. 

You can do this as well with the self seeded "plant-lets' that are generally around Echinacea in the garden. A great idea to pot them up as gifts for a friend. This method will allow for less wait time for the plant to establish and plentiful flowers for next summer.

Hostas - Autumn Display

Not only should you choose the right colour of Hosta for summer displays; be also mindful about your choice for autumn colour in the garden.

I find, basic green and blue leaved varieties have true golden colours as autumn progresses.

The golden or chartreuse leaved hostas turn creamy yellow in autumn.

If you have evergreens as backdrops, or evergreen ground covers, choosing varieties like:

Hosta 'Halcyon' (colours up late in season, but well worth the wait)

• August Moon
• Paul's Glory
• Big Daddy
• Blue Angel
• Sieboldii Elegans
• Mouse Ears
• Francee
• Great Expectations
• June
• Krossa Regal
• Royal Standard
• Sum and Substance
• Regal Splendor
• Plantanginea 

Hosta 'Blue Cadet' (unfortunately, the slug damage shows up a fair bit - but from afar it lights up the shady garden)

...will really make a great display. I have experience with the above. Some turn early and some late. It's really fun to notice the changes.

The golden leaf colour is accentuated by the English Ivy's evergreen foliage.

If you want the autumn display to last, be sure to keep the hostas watered. Or like the above photo, tips will begin to dry out and become brown.

I find slight variegated varieties of Hostas colour up well too. The pale leaved varieties which have less chlorophyll (green) have less golden colouration in autumn. For the most part, all Hostas will yellow - some more than others.

Timing and frost free conditions are key as well. Once the frost hits, the leaves wilt - colour is gone.

Lots of colour still remaining in late October. Love my little hostas.

Enjoy them whilst you can!

September - Time to collect seeds

September is the month where you get a true bumper crop of selection when it comes to seed. Last year's harsh winter claimed many casualties in the garden. Collecting seeds now can prevent the loss of many plants that self seed readily.

Yesterday I managed to collect seeds from:

Nasturtium (please don't pull off the seed pod, if they naturally come free with a little effort, then it's the right time to collect).

Coriander. I let these dry completely on the bolted growth. Half I usually leave overwinter to allow natural reseeding, half for culinary purposes. Taking a few in case this winter kills them off.

Don't eat all your snow peas. Allow some to go to seed. Wait to collect once the pod goes yellow.

I love this allium. I rather not divide this young plant yet. Instead I would like to try and...

grow from seed next spring. Seeds are now dry, still encased in the pod.

Hemerocallis is so easy to grow from seed. Be sure to collect the pod, not the flower bud. Note the difference.

One of the easiest perennials to grow from seed is this common Coreopsis. Just allow the seed pod to dry completely on the plant before collecting.

Once some seed begins to fall off, or eaten by birds, you know this is the right time to collect Rudbeckia seeds and...

...Echinacea seeds. Please leave some for the birds. Yellow Finch love them. They provide fabulous winter interest in large clumps.

With Gaillardia, I leave many pods alone for birds too. Because of that, sometimes nature does a better job in plant production than I do. Come late spring, I find baby Gaillardia all at the base of this plant. But just in case we have a tough winter like last, I've taken a few for safe measure.

With Common Rue (Ruta graveolens), I deadhead and harvest the seed, so it doesn't seed itself everywhere. This is a tough one to die off. However, collecting the seeds now gives me a chance to give seedlings in spring as gifts. So easy to propagate.

With this Siberian Iris, I enjoy leaving their seed pods for winter interest. Thankfully, the pod stems are rigid and sturdy enough that you can bend them over and collect without taking the attractive seed pods off.

The best way I find to make sure you don't get debris mixed in with seed for storing, is to just empty the pods onto a sheet of white paper. You can lightly blow off the unwanted bits and the seeds remain to be packaged away.

I hate waste and I learned this from my Mother. If you get return envelopes from your utility bills, save them by:

1. Licking the envelope closed. Then cut the envelope in half.
2. Cut about 1/2 inch away on one side of the newly cut area to make a fold over flap for the new envelope.
3. Flip over and crease.
4. Be sure to write the name of the plant and date ahead of time before inserting seed. Tape closed.

Store in a cool, dry, dark place. Ready for March (indoor propagation) or May (sown right outdoors).

Planter Designs - Plant Combinations That Work

I've been blessed with a job that allows you to play with living colours.

A few principles govern plant placement, but for the most part it's light requirements and colour that dictates what can work.

Rules to follow when buying choices for planters:

1) "Thriller" (generally something with height and colour)
2) "Filler" (fills in gaps and provides interest)
3) "Spiller" (the overflowing growth that softens edges and makes the container blend in with the plants)
4) Contrasting colours

This square planter is quite tall off the ground - nearly 3.5 feet. So height is key, plus a lot of spiller. 

The above container is in part sun with the following:  Canna (centre), African marigolds, lime Coleus and Pennisetum rubrum grass (filler) and blackie and lime ornamental potato vine (spiller).

I find with larger containers, you need more fillers and thrillers to gain interest.

Given that the above planter gets full sun all day, I used 3 Cannas in the centre, African marigolds and Blaze Lantana as filler, with bronze Sweet Caroline and lime ornamental potato vine, purple verbena and wave petunia as spiller.

Not all containers have to have annuals - this one has a mixture of both perennial and annual selections.

More for part shade, the height in the above container is achieved with Rudbeckia goldstrum, fillers are: Angel wing Begonia, Silver Dusty Miller and Astilbe (textural leaves). Both Lamiastrum Jade frost and Lamium Pink Pewter is used as a spiller. In zones 6 and higher, the perennials in this planter will overwinter quite nicely.

Whether you have large scale plantings or small, a really tiny, shallow terracotta pot can still support larger sized plant material. Here I used two shades of Coleus in the background, Angel Wing Begonia as filler and a Lobelia mix for the spiller. Great for a shady spot.

Texture is important too - the grass in the centre give real height and movement in the breeze. Symmetrically placed, the plants really compliment each other.

Plants used: Arundo donax (grass), Ageratum (blue), Lime Potato vine, Red potato vine and balcon geraniums.

Symmetrical and asymmetrical ways are easy to accomplish:

Make sure you give adequate room for growth. Before you design layout - take into consideration if you have all around views or flat sides (up against buildings..etc).

 

Using grasses that have soft plumes help add visual interest from far. (Grass: Pennisetum setaceum)

This asymmetrical design enable the grass not to overtake the rest of the plant material. Depending on the grass, you need to make sure it doesn't smother the others.

Sometimes in shade, it's difficult to find tall thrillers. Add an obelisque and a climber or trailing plant to achieve height in the centre. Here, I wind Lamiastrum Jade Frost in the centre for height.

You can get a lot of colour even without flowers. Mix foliage colours for contrast.

Sometimes, less is more. Sticking to 3 different plants makes a bigger show.

Have fun with all kinds of choices. The garden centres have heaps of plants to choose from!