Helpful tips

What looks good planted with hostas?

What looks good planted with hostas?

Astilbe, ferns, geraniums, and shady-friendly bulbs are great companions for hostas. Two of our favorites: bleeding hearts and heuchera. Bleeding heart (dicentra) plants provide delicate flowers and elegant, arching branches — the perfect contrast to bold, shiny, or variegated hosta plants.

How do I organize my garden hostas?

Hostas are attractive companions for other perennials such as astilbes, ferns, dicentra and heuchera. You can also pair them with shade-tolerant annuals such as impatiens, nicotiana, coleus, caladium and begonias. When using hostas with flowering plants, look for opportunities to create color echoes.

What side of the house is best for hostas?

north side
Plant hostas with ferns, wildflowers, and shade perennials on the north side of a house or under the canopy of large trees. Use them as specimens or accents on the shaded side of a shrub border or under flowering trees.

What hostas go well together?

Other shade loving perennials to grow with hostas

  • Primrose (some grow this as an annual, but it comes back every year for me.)
  • Bluebird Columbine (zones 3-9)
  • Toad Lily (zones 4-8)
  • Oxalis (comes in many colors and is hardy in zones 6 and warmer)
  • Elephant Ears (huge showy leaves that tower over the hostas.

How far away from the house should you plant hostas?

Hostas should be spaced according how large the cultivar will be at full maturity. Miniature hostas need to be planted 18 inches apart, small hostas 28 inches, medium hostas 40 inches, large hostas 60 inches and giant hostas require 80 inches of space.

How long do hostas live?

Hostas require little care and will live to be 30 or more years if properly cared for. While most known for thriving in the shade garden, the reality is more nuanced. The ideal situation is dappled shade.

What happens if you plant hostas too close together?

Hostas are shade tolerant, so planting it near buildings or foundations will work well. Allow for soil moisture and spread considerations when planning your landscaping area. Planting hostas too close together can cause too moist of soil as well as difficulty when it comes time to split the plants.