Agrotechnics
The place for planting this variety of ornamental grasses is usually chosen in a shaded part of a garden or vegetable garden, for short periods of time illuminated by the sun's rays. The so-called "variegated" variety of hosts belongs to the category of especially light-loving species of this culture. But they all equally need reliable protection from drafts and strong gusts of wind.
Additional Information. When choosing a soil suitable for growing hostas, preference is given to a sufficiently fertile and well-moistened soil, planting in which should not lead to stagnation of moisture.
Reproduction
These plants are propagated by the method of dividing the bush or by cuttings known to all. Mature shrubs undergo the division procedure either in early spring (before May), or in the fall season, which is September. But before that, the plant in the ground is watered abundantly, and then it is dug up and prepared for cutting.
Reproduction of hosts by dividing a large bush
The bush removed from the ground is divided into parts so that on each branch there are 1-2 rosettes of leaves. The parts obtained after dividing are immediately planted at the place of their future cultivation. If the hosta is planted by cuttings, this procedure can be carried out throughout the summer season. For this, the following operations are performed:
- First, young shoots are separated from the bush of the plant, from which the leaves are then removed by a third of their length.
- After that, each stalk is planted in a place prepared in advance for it.
- At the final stage of work, the appendages are covered with used plastic bottles.
At the end of the planting operations, you should wait a couple of weeks until the young cuttings take root in the ground, after which it will be possible to remove their shelter.
Planting and leaving
The plot selected for the cultivation of the hosts is first completely dug up, after which a bucket of humus and mineral fertilizers are introduced into it per unit of the sown area. Then, at a distance of about 30-50 cm, small pits are dug out, corresponding in size to the root system of the plant.
Further, drainage is made at their bottom, after which the previously thrown back earth is poured there. After that, a bush with well-spread roots is placed in it, which are then covered with the same garden soil. At the end, it is carefully compacted, after which it remains to water abundantly and mulch the planting zone.
Landing hosts
The daily care of growing hosta bushes comes down to standard procedures, these are:
- Timely watering of growing grass.
- Weed weeding.
- Feeding with organics or minerals.
Add to this the obligatory mulching by means of humus, which allows you to save moisture and provides favorable soil conditions for growth. The host does not need autumn pruning; at this time, some peduncles are usually removed. She also does not need a protective shelter from frost, since this culture does not die even at temperatures down to -40 ° C.
Landing hosts in open ground
The host's soils are moist, fertile, and loose in composition. The ideal land for hostas is loamy with a high humus content and a slightly acidic reaction, always moist, mulched.
They buy hosts with rhizomes - they are perfectly preserved in a bag with peat in the refrigerator. You can also buy already growing plants in a container.
Planting hosts in the garden is best done in the spring. When planting, the root collar is not buried, but is left above 1-2 cm from the soil surface, this will promote the growth of young shoots. The seedlings take root quickly and develop well during the season.Planted since mid-summer, they often do not give new growth, they only develop the root system.
If you plant dwarf varieties, then it is recommended to prepare a looser earthen mixture for them: add coarse sand or crushed bark to the dense soil.
In the future, it is very important to maintain sufficient soil moisture under the host.
MINI HOSTS - NEW PRODUCTS OF THE LAST YEARS
Hosta Dragon tails ("Dragon tails") is a dwarf variety of unknown origin with narrow, elongated lemon-yellow wavy leaves.
Lutescent, in adulthood it forms an elegant golden bump. One of the best yellow hosts in its size range due to its highly wavy, frill leaves. Grows rapidly and multiplies easily. Good for creating spectacular flower borders.
Variety Itsy Bitsy Spider - one of the smallest host, which easily fits into a pot no more than 7 cm in diameter. It looks like an agave in miniature. Very gentle and capricious; only 5 cm high.
In a tiny variety Cameo height 10 cm, tiny green-blue leaves with a creamy feathery border and purple flowers!
Variety Candy Dish (2016), or, in our opinion, "candy bowl", is distinguished by petioles with brown specks, dark green dense, shiny leaves with a corrugated edge. Height no more than 35 cm. Extraordinarily good!
Hosta Sparkler - a bright representative of the "striped" varieties in the literal sense of the word. Green dense, shiny lanceolate leaves in the center are painted with white and salad feather-like strokes.
Variety Cherry tart ("Cherry cake") 25 cm high, with lanceolate leaves that look up; petioles and peduncles are red-brown in color, which is absolutely in the spirit of the latest trends in host breeding.
Little host Chorus girl (“Chorus girl”, 2016), 35 cm high, with rounded cupped wax leaves of a gray-yellow-green color, waffle texture, a wonderful, memorable variety.
TIP: it's better to look at mini-hosts up close, so planting these tiny plants in containers is considered a good idea.
Have Tortifrons (2002) height 15 - 20 cm, narrow glossy wavy, leathery dark green twisted leaves. This unusual little host was accidentally discovered in a Japanese garden.
Hosta Mini skirt ("Mini-skirt", 2014) - a representative of the "mouse" series, a wonderful miniature hostochka with heart-shaped, very dense (the breed is visible!), Thick, twisted leaves. The color is blue-green with a wide yellow-cream border.
Bright showy Fireworks ("Fireworks", 2001) - height 10-15 cm, dense lanceolate creamy white shiny erect leaves with a dark green border and uneven shading.
Original variety - Hands up ("Hands up") size S (height - 35 cm). It comes from the super popular Praying Hands, inheriting from the progenitor the vertical arrangement of arrow-shaped, rigid, twisted dark green leaves, edged with a yellow border. Looks more like regular grass than hosta.
Hosta Little treasure (2008) will truly become a “little treasure” (15 x 20 cm) for your garden. It is a charming dwarf with narrow, bluish-green lanceolate leaves with a wavy edge. A narrow creamy strip runs along the center of the leaf, like an axis of symmetry, dividing it into two equal parts.
Variety Lightning Flash ("Flash of light") has lanceolate elongated waxy blue-blue leaves with cream and yellow shading and a red base at the petioles. Height - 30 cm.
The variety Lakeside little tuff beautiful creamy leaves with a bright green border almost without petioles, just like the extremely fashionable dwarf Hacksaw ("Hacksaw") with a highly assembled edge of the sheet, reminiscent of the teeth of a hacksaw, for which it got its original name.
The 2015 variety, with the extravagant name Electrocution, forms a tousled bump of twisted narrow green leaves trimmed with a thin yellow border.
The novelty that appeared in our catalogs in 2017 is Valleys ruffle shuffle ("Mixed ruffles") has bluish-green dense leaves with a white lining and ruffle frill along the edge and purple petioles.
Baby Leather and lace ("Leather and lace"), advertised as a 2017 novelty by suppliers, has a blue leathery leaf center trimmed around the edge with a light yellow frill. Another baby with a quite fair name "gorgeous" - Wonderful - appeared in 2017. This mini-hostchka forms a very dense bush of elongated lanceolate leaves, painted in a bright yellow color, turning into a chartreuse shade by the middle of summer.
Reproduction
There are 3 ways: by seeds, cuttings and dividing an adult bush.
Growing from seeds
Seed propagation is mainly used in breeding work to develop new varieties, as it is a laborious and time-consuming process. The hostas are planted with seeds in April ‒ May. The germination capacity of the material is 70-80%, therefore it is recommended to treat the seeds with a growth stimulant (Kornevin, Bioglobin, etc.) or keep them for at least a month in a cold place. The soil mixture must be sterilized, so it is calcined in the oven (10 minutes at 200 ° C) or microwave (5-10 minutes), and the planting trays are treated with alcohol or potassium permanganate solution.
Drainage is poured on the bottom of the container, on top - a substrate, which includes peat, perlite, vermiculite. The seeds are neatly laid out, covered with a layer of earth (5-7 mm), lightly tamped. The pot is covered with foil or glass and placed in a shady place where the temperature is no higher than 25 ° C. The airing of the mini tiles and the removal of condensate are periodically carried out. Seedlings appear in 2-3 weeks. Seedling care consists in providing sufficient lighting, moderate, exclusively bottom watering and picking. The pots are placed in a container with water and removed only after the top layer of the earth becomes wet.
A pick is carried out when the first pair of true leaves appears. After seating in individual pots and when the outside temperature rises above 18 ° C, you need to gradually temper the young hosts, taking them out to the balcony or veranda. The function grown from seeds develops slowly and reaches a decorative effect only in the 4th year of life. In addition, it can lose the characteristics of the variety.
Cutting and dividing the bush
Cuttings - separation from an adult bush of a sprout with a part of the rhizome. In May-June, the young shoot is carefully separated, sits in the ground with the addition of peat, perlite, watered and shaded. Leaves may wither immediately after planting, but should rise after a few days. During this period, they can be sprayed abundantly with water.
The most common type of reproduction is the division of the bush, which is carried out in May or at the end of summer. The bush is carefully dug up and divided into parts. Each "division" should have 1-2, and preferably 3-5 rosettes of leaves. The smaller the split off part, the longer it will grow. Delenki are immediately planted in open ground.
Before planting in open ground, the "sleeping" layers can be stored in a cool dark place at a temperature of 5-10 ° C (lower shelf of the refrigerator, basement, insulated balcony). If the buds have begun to grow, it is imperative to plant them in pots.
Blue Mouse Ears
A relatively young variety of miniature host, bred in 2000. Due to the unusual shape of the leaves, it received the name, which in Russian is translated as "blue mouse ears". In July, it throws out an arrow with racemose light lilac inflorescences. It can grow in the shade, but it feels most comfortable in partial shade or in diffused sunlight. Purely hypothetically, it can grow in brightly lit areas, however, there is a high probability that the wax coating covering the leaves of the plant can become thinner to such a state that because of this host, it will not only lose its unique color, but also risk severe burns ...
Medium hosts
Hosts are considered to be average, the diameter of which ranges from 30-60 cm.These varieties are equally successfully used both in mixborders in large and medium-sized flower beds, and as the main element of small flower beds.
Miniature host varieties - description and name
Small bush Gold drop ("Golden drop", 1977) in the hostaria really looks like a precious bar of gold. The size of the heart-shaped leaves is no more than 5 × 3 cm. This is a lutescent hosta, that is, it turns yellow by the middle of summer: the chartreuse color changes to golden during the season. Tolerant to the sun. It grows quite quickly, which makes it possible to use this variety to create borders.
Variety Bitsy Gold (1985) - miniature, forms a dense hummock 20 - 25 cm in diameter. Narrow dazzling golden lanceolate shiny leaves, six times their length (12: 2), lavender flowers.
Have Stiletto (1987) long, arrow-shaped, slightly wavy green leaves with a white border around the edge. Their shape resembles a dagger, which gave the name to this variety. Height - 25 cm, bush diameter - 30 cm.
Variety Ladybug (1996, "ladybug") forms a regular spherical hillock of bright yellow color. Only black dots are missing for a complete resemblance to our beloved insect since childhood.
Hosta Teaspoon (1998) - an adorable mini-variety with rounded, regular-shaped leaves on rather long petioles, which really resemble teaspoons. Great bush shape!
Have Masquerade (year of introduction and origin unknown), only 15 cm high, lanceolate, slightly wavy cream-white leaves with a thin green border and lavender-purple flowers.
Well-recognizable variety Medusa (1993) belongs to small hosts (S), its size is 20 x 15 cm. The leaves are strongly wavy and curled, lanceolate, ivory with an emerald border.
Variety Pandoras box ("Pandora's box") has been known since 1996. Its height is no more than 10 cm. This superdwarf has small (3 × 5 cm) gray-green leaves with a creamy center and lilac-purple flowers.
Mini-hosts size Little jay (2004) does not exceed 10-15 cm, it has narrow gray-green leaves with a wide creamy center. And this variety has one feature: the older the bush becomes, the wider the green center of the leaf becomes - and the border narrows. An adult plant is completely different from itself "in its youth".
Landing
It is recommended to plant hostas in open ground in spring or late summer - early autumn, so that the seedlings have time to take root before frost. For planting, specimens are selected with live, well-developed, elastic roots 10-12 cm long without defects and signs of disease (mold, rot). The root should have 1-3 growth buds. Planting a healthy plant will keep maintenance work to a minimum.
Hosts with blue leaves in very illuminated areas become more green in color. Varieties with golden and white leaf blades turn green in the shade, and from constant exposure to direct sunlight they burn out strongly and can get burned.
A place
The most favorable are the penumbra areas, sheltered from the wind. For varieties with green, and especially blue leaves, it is worth choosing shaded areas, and with light ones, sunny places are quite suitable, provided that it is shaded in the midday heat. For the function, 80% of the illumination is quite enough. For many species, shading is suitable due to a nearby growing taller plant.
The soil
Light, loose, air and moisture permeable, fertile is preferable. Although flowers grow on almost any garden cultivated land, they should not be planted in heavy clay and dry sandy soils. The optimum acidity is pH 6.5-7.5. On nutritious, moisturized, well-aerated soil, the flower will show itself in all its glory. Before planting, you can dig up the ground with fertilization. Bushes of varieties "mini" and "smile" are planted in flaky soils, where the lower layer is podzolic or loamy soils, in the upper one is sandy.
Depending on the variety, both single and group plantings are carried out. The size of the desired site and the planting pit is directly influenced by what the adult bushes will be and how much they grow.Some varieties form small dense bushes, while others, on the contrary, grow up to 1.5 m in diameter.
Planting stages
- Since the root system grows horizontally, the planting hole should be wide and deep enough (at least 30 cm). The distance between the holes is 30-100 cm.
- A drainage is placed in each hole and 2/3 filled with compost, peat with the addition of sand, and, if necessary, organic fertilizer.
- The roots are gently spread over the surface and sprinkled with earth. The growth buds should remain at the soil level.
- The flower is watered abundantly.
- The land around is mulched with a layer of chalk bark or peat (1-2 cm).
Transfer
Transplanting can be carried out throughout the season, but it is best to do this from late August to mid-September. The flower is well watered, dug out with a clod of earth and sits at the same depth at which it grew. The first 2 weeks need regular and abundant watering. Bushes in one place can grow for a decade, but it is still recommended to plant them every 5 years.
Abiqua Drinking Gourd
This host variety, which got its name from the unusual shape of the leaves, can often be found in flower beds in the middle lane. From English, the phrase "drinking gourd" is translated as the Big Dipper, a fairly common designation for the constellation, which we usually call the Big Dipper.
Plants of this variety have dense cupped leaves with a pronounced "waffle" texture and deep embossed stripes. It blooms in mid-summer with medium-sized (2-3 cm) white flowers. Frequent inhabitant of gardens in the middle zone. Domestic gardeners love this variety for its high winter hardiness and bright appearance. In landscape design, it is used to create compositions, decorate borders and fill voids in flower beds.
It is better not to plant varieties with concave leaves in the trunk circles. Otherwise, foliage from trees and shrubs will fall into the host's "buckets", which will not only spoil its appearance, but also attract various pests to the plant.
Choosing a landing site
The host came to our garden from the humid forests of East Asia. Hence the requirements for growing conditions: shade and moist soil.
Hosta grows well in the shade, especially green-leaved, blue and gray varieties - Elegans, Big mama, Blu Angel, etc. But plants with variegated, yellow and cream leaves will have a rich color when planted in places with sufficient lighting, but without direct sunlight. The ideal lighting level is two to three hours of the morning sun. A good landing site is on the east side of the house. The host will grow well in the wandering shadow of the crowns.
In the absence of shade in open, sunny areas, varieties with dense leaves such as Halcyon and fragrant flowers can be planted. But here it is necessary to ensure sufficient watering, fertile soil composition and mulching.
MINI HOSTS - CARE
Small hosts require much more attention, than their larger cousins. All of them have a small root system, which is very sensitive to moisture deficiency (but its excess also adversely affects the plant - it is not known which is worse). It is better to cover these hosts for the winter with fallen leaves, protecting the delicate roots from frost. And in the spring, it is imperative to mulch, but with a small layer of compost or peat (no more than 2 cm thick) - this will allow you to maintain an optimal soil moisture regime and fight annual weeds. Around it is still worth additionally crumbling the ground with crushed bark, sawdust or walnut shells. This will be an effective barrier for slugs, who are able to destroy the entire mini-host collection in literally one night! They just love to feast on tender leaves of cute defenseless crumbs.
They must be planted in a heap (so that they are not lost in flower beds), enclosing them with a dug-in plastic tape or making an impromptu "fence" of sticks stuck around them.And the best thing is to place small hosts in a plastic pot without a bottom (it will break the ceramics with frost), and cut off at least half of it, leaving a ring that must be buried in such a way that there are 7-10 centimeters above the ground.
Reference by topic: New host varieties - photos, names and descriptions
This barrier will be an insurmountable obstacle for slugs. There may be several such improvised "flower beds", plant 3-5 hosts in each (depending on their size), arranging them according to the color and shape of the leaves and achieving color harmony. And all of them should be located amicably, together, in partial shade conditions suitable for them.
This measure is obligatory, since in the spring there is a great chance to simply inadvertently trample the little ones: they don't need much ...
And in no case should you cut off their foliage in the fall. Firstly, because they themselves, so clever, shelter themselves with it from the winter cold. And secondly, dried and mummified leaves lie flat on the ground, indicating the location of the hosta. In spring it is easy to remove them with one movement of the hand, but only after the “noses” have hatched.
Varieties of yellow hosts - photo, description and names: YELLOW HOSTS: in a special position Among ...
Growing hosts - the right fit: Where and how to plant a hostA host, ...
Host varieties for growing and decorating a summer cottage: Hosta is a plant for ...
Do-it-yourself mini-garden dacha - planting plan (photo): DIY mini-garden in the dacha Even ...
Host varieties - miniature and giant: Hosta and its varieties from ...
Mini-do-it-yourself flower garden (photo and selection of plants): Mini flower garden in a container with its own ...
Hosta species and varieties
Hosta flower in all its variety of species and varieties is widely used in landscape design. Hosta hybrid has more than 4000 varieties today. But there are not so many main types, on the basis of which this diversity arose. Host species that served as the basis for breeding:
- Khosta curly (height 60 cm, leaves are wide, dark green with a white border, for example, Dream Weaver).
- The host is high (up to 90 cm tall, the leaves are large, glossy, dark green, for example, the Tom Schmid variety).
- Hosta Fortune (height up to half a meter, green leaves with a cream border, for example, hosta albopicta).
- Hosta Siebold (up to 60 cm tall, leaves with obvious veins, for example, the Elegans variety).
- The host is wavy (up to 75 cm, leaves with a wavy edge, the middle is white with a green border with strokes, for example, the host Undulata Mediovariegata).
- The host is swollen (up to half a meter, leaves with pointed tips, for example, the Thomas Hogg variety).
- Hosta plantain (up to half a meter, the leaves are bright green, glossy, for example, the Royal Standard variety).
In the photo: Hosta curly (Hosta crispula)
In the photo: Hosta high (Hosta elata)
Numerous host varieties are also classified: a) by color; b) in size. According to the color of the leaves, the hosts are divided into five groups:
- blue hosta (hosta blue - B) - the color of the leaves is bluish-gray;
- host yellow (Go) - combines all yellow-leaved hosts;
- hosta green (Gr) - all shades of green;
- hosta variegata (V) - variegated host varieties, as well as varieties with a light border along the edge;
- hosta mediovariety (MV) - light leaves with a green border around the edge.
In the photo: Hosta fortunei
In the photo: Hosta sieboldiana
In the photo: Hosta undulata
By size, hosts are divided into 6 groups:
- dwarf - plants below 10 cm, Draft (D): Blue Mouse Ears (bluish leaves really look like mouse ears),
- miniature - from 10 to 15 cm, Miniature (Mini): La Donna (leaves are bluish-yellow-green),
- small - from 16 to 25 cm, Small (S): Hosta Goldtone (green leaves with a white or yellow stripe), Headsmen Blue (blue-green leaves);
- medium - from 30 to 50 cm, Medium (M, Med): Night Before Christmas (dark green leaves with a white center), So Sweet (green leaves with a creamy white border), White Feather (a unique white hosta that overflows time gradually turns green);
- large - from 55 to 70 cm, Large (L): Alvatine Taylor (bluish-green leaves with a greenish-yellow border), Golden Meadows (rounded, wrinkled leaves with a golden middle, wide green border and pale green strokes);
- giant - above 70 cm, Giant (G): Blue Vision (bluish-green leaves), Sum of All (the middle of the leaf is green, along the edge - a wide golden border).
In the photo: Hosta swollen (Hosta ventricosa)
In the photo: Hosta plantaginea
Chionodox: growing and care, types and varieties
After this article, they usually read
Add a comment
Description
Hosta itself belongs to herbaceous perennials from the Asparagus family. The size in width, height, foliage shape, color depends on the variety. The high decorativeness of the plant allows it to be successfully used in the landscape design of the city and garden. The flowering of the hosta is quite spectacular; there are varieties with a simple type of flowering and terry.
More than 600 varieties are officially registered today. In general, plant species are constantly changing, interbreeding with each other and under the influence of other factors. The main feature of the classification is the shade of the foliage and their shape.
By the tone of the leaf, the plant is divided into the following groups:
- green - include a variety of shades, from faded to juicy;
- blue - mostly blue with a bluish tint;
- yellow - range from gold to orange;
- variegates - variegated and bordered.
Description and characteristics
Bringing complete description of this type of herbaceous plants, let's pay attention to its following details and features:
- The leaf plate of the hosta The ear of the blue mouse is quite dense, resembling rubber in structure.
- Its color can be described as a combination of blue plus green; there are small notches along the even edges of the leaves.
- Their shape is cupped, differing, depending on the age of the plant (first oval, and with the onset of maturity - almost round, ending with a slight sharpening).
- The dark green petiole of the decorative flower is rather small, but at the same time has sufficient strength.
- The shape of the flowers themselves is bell-shaped, and the color of the petals can vary over a wide range.
- They grow in brushes that form on a thick stem.
Hosta with green and white leaves
The leaves of the hosta Mouse plant can be up to 20 cm long, and their standard width is up to 10 cm. They are attached to the stem by means of short but strong petioles, forming a small rosette in the lower part. In different hosta species, their shape and coverage can vary over a fairly wide range (with or without edging, with a matte bloom or glossiness, etc.).
Additional Information. The flowering stems of this plant are completely devoid of vegetation, their height ranges from 20 totee up to 100 cm.
Blue, and sometimes lilac or white flowers of an ornamental plant are collected in small racemose inflorescences of the correct shape.
