Hosta is a beautiful decorative foliage herbaceous plant. Its unpretentiousness, shadeliness and frost resistance made this perennial very popular in Russia. This is a flowering plant, but its indisputable value lies in the lush variety of colors and shapes of leaf blades.
Plant description
Hosts are unusually good! As you can endlessly look at the fire, it is also impossible to look away from these neat, richly dressed plants. They are sophisticated and magical, elegant and flirty. The host is rightly called the queen of the shady garden for her dislike of the open sun and shade tolerance.
Leaves of the host are represented by all shades of green, yellow and even blue with plates of different shapes and sizes. In autumn, the host bushes become even brighter, changing their color to more yellow shades.
Plant flowers are not so expressive. It can be both bells and open wide funnels in racemose inflorescences of white, blue and sometimes purple with a pleasant unobtrusive aroma. The size of the peduncle can reach one meter in height. Flowering begins in July and continues until mid-October.
Hosts retain their decorative features for over 20 years and can grow perfectly in one place for about 10 years in a row, which indicates their stability and unpretentiousness. In nature, hosts grow along the banks of rivers and lakes, as well as on the edges of forests and on mountain slopes.
Varieties and varieties
Hosta belongs to the Liliaceae family. The genus of hosts includes about 40 species. To date, there are more than 2500 varieties of these wonderful plants, which are classified mainly for plant height and leaf color.
The height classification is as follows:
- Dwarf or miniature. They grow from 5 to 10 cm up.
- Undersized hosts. Here, the height of the plants reaches 20 cm.
- Medium - up to 30 cm.
- Large - up to 45 cm.
- Giant (very large) - are 60 cm and even higher.
You can divide hosts into groups by the color of the sheet plate for an infinitely long time, since there are a lot of varieties of colors. Among them are the main ones:
- Greens.
- Blue.
- Yellow.
- Variergata, i.e. variegated and with a light border.
- Mediovariergate. Here the leaves are light with a green edge.
Selection is ongoing. Including by crossing them with plants such as daylilies. So, recently launched a variety with double flowers. But such hosts are still very expensive, which is determined by their uniqueness.
The following are examples of varieties of plants described that are diverse in color and size of the bushes. First of all, I would like to mention the host Belaya. Planting and care (photo plants are presented in the article) for it will require some attention. So, the host Belaya is one of the most unusual and amazing varieties. The highlight of the plant can be called the milky color of young leaves, which persists until the host grows to about 15 cm.
Then brightly colored green stripes appear on the sheet plate. As the plants grow, these bands fill the entire surface of the leaf of the host Belaya. Planting and care will not be difficult, but the correctness of the actions will help to ensure a decent living for the plant.
Planting is best done by growing from seeds that need to be sown in early May and wait for seedlings, protecting young plants from direct sunlight throughout the summer.
In early September or late August, young sockets are placed for permanent residence, taking into account the needs of the plant. Namely: the shade of the planting site, sufficient moisture, monthly fertilizing with mineral fertilizers, loosening of the soil and timely removal of weed.
Hosta Wavy
A distinctive feature here is the undulation of elongated ovate leaves. The size of the sheet plate reaches 20 cm in length and 13 cm in width.
The wavy edge of the sheet is colored green, and the center of the plate is either white or white-green at the base. Peduncles reach 80 cm in length. Their flowers are light purple in size up to 5 cm. An adult plant grows up to 30 cm in height.
Host Siebold
This variety also reaches 30 cm in adulthood. The color of the leaf plate is pale green, with a bluish waxy coating. The structure of the leaf is dense and wrinkled.
Peduncles from 40 to 50 cm in height. Siebold flowers of pale lilac color with a size of about 6 cm. On the peduncle there is 1 leaf. Flowering occurs in July and August.
Landing Features
Landing hosts and caring for it will not cause too much trouble. Although this plant is considered shade-loving, there is one feature: the lighter the color of the leaf, the more sunlight the bush needs.
And one more thing: if the host is bought, but it is still too early to plant, then it is better to store the plant until planting in a dark, cool place. In this case, the air temperature should be from +5 to +10 ° .
Features of landing in the open ground
To plant the hosts in the open ground and to care for the quality of it in the future, you must choose the right place. For this plant, a garden plot in the shade or in partial shade with well-drained and moistened soil is suitable.
For planting seedlings, the holes should be wide, about 30 cm in depth and with a distance between them of up to 1 meter in accordance with the size of an adult plant. Each hole should be filled with compost and peat about 2/3 in the form of a knoll, on which it is necessary to smoothly spread the roots of seedlings and then fill it with fertile soil and condense.
After this, the landing site must be abundantly watered and mulched to preserve moisture. Repeat watering every three to four days a few more times. Then - as usual.
When planting, it must be remembered that the buds of the plant must be flush with the ground. If the bud is too high above the surface, then the plant must be sprinkled and deepened.
Features of planting from seeds
Planting hosts from seeds and caring for seedlings are also not difficult. In April-May, it is necessary to prepare a soil mixture for planting seeds in a container. First, pour drainage at the bottom of the tank, then the nutrient mixture of the soil and pour.
Put seeds on top and sprinkle with a layer of soil mixture 5-7 mm thick. Lightly condense, cover the container with glass or film and place it away from sunlight at a temperature of 18-25 ° C. Shoots will appear in 2-3 weeks.
As soon as the sprouts appear, it is necessary to transfer the container to a more illuminated place, but not to direct sunlight. After the appearance of the first pair of leaves, dive seedlings. To do this, after planting in new containers, pour sand on top of ¼.
Watering is best done as follows: put the container with the sprout in a deep container with water and wait until the top layer is moistened.
So, from all of the above, we can conclude that landing hosts and leaving in the spring is an exciting and burdensome activity.
Some features of care
The unpretentiousness of the hosts landing and caring for it greatly simplifies. It is better not to transplant already grown adult flowers too often, despite the fact that young plants are very easy to adapt to new conditions.
When planting hosta flowers and caring in the open ground, one must take into account that these flowers easily respond to fertilizers, both organic and mineral. However, it will be sufficient to introduce them only before planting, since an excess of organic matter leads to the fact that the plants do not have time to prepare for the winter and can freeze.
The hostility of the hosts during planting and care must also be considered. It is not for nothing that these plants have received the nickname of “living conditioners”, since they evaporate a large amount of moisture from their surface. Therefore, the soil on which the host grows requires constant moisture. However, in developed age-related plants, the root system goes deep into the ground, and such bushes are more drought tolerant.
The host is known for frost resistance, but it is better to mulch young plants by winter in order to prevent freezing.
Fertilizer and Feeding Preferences
In order for the plants to be healthy and look like these, it is necessary to feed them periodically, and it is better to do this three times per season: during the growth period, during flowering, and after the plant stops flowering.
For this, fertilizers with potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus are more often used. Organic fertilizers, such as humus and compost, also do not hurt, but they are best applied in the fall. However, it must be remembered that an excess of fertilizers can lead to burns of the plant.
How to breed
Reproduction of hosts during planting and care in the open field, carried out correctly, taking into account all the recommendations, will be easy. There are three ways:
- Division. It is carried out in May or already at the end of summer by dividing the overgrown bush. It should be borne in mind that the smaller the separated part, the more time and effort will be needed to grow it.
- Cuttings are a separation from the adult host of a sprout with a portion of the root, which must immediately be planted in the ground, abundantly watered and prilled.
- Growing from seeds. The most time-consuming method of reproduction. Here, germination is 70-80%. Based on this, the seeds are treated with a growth stimulator before sowing. Another incentive method is to keep the seeds cold 30 days before planting. Before sowing the pots, it is better to disinfect with manganese or alcohol, and also sterilize the soil.
Diseases and Pests
Hosta is resistant to disease, but still she sometimes gets sick. Most often it is phylosticosis, which manifests itself in the appearance of yellow-brown spots on the leaves. Affected plants will have to be burned and the soil sanitized after them. It happens that the host also gets gray rot and sclerotinia, which are easily treated with fungicides.
The most common pests on hosts are slugs, to control which plants mulch with something sharp and sticky, such as crushed stone or broken shell rock. The use of lures with beer will also help, from which then you just need to remove the slugs and destroy it.
If the plant was attacked by insects (grasshoppers, caterpillars), then insecticides will help.
Neighborhood with other plants
The shade tolerance of hosts and its aesthetic appearance make its proximity to many plants advantageous. A very harmonious combination of hosts with heichera and fern, primrose and geranium, Lungwort and digitalis.
Often the host is used in mixes with conifers and roses. However, when planting with roses, it is necessary to take into account the different preferences of these plants for illumination and plant the host in the shady places of the flower bed or on the north side of the rose bush.
Host in landscape design
Landscape designers often use the host. For example, to frame garden paths and lawns. And if you put the host in a pot, you can decorate it with a gazebo or an open veranda. It looks very advantageous on a vertical flower bed in the company of daylilies and phloxes.
Proper hosta planting and care (photos of flowers show well-groomed plants) behind it will support its aesthetics and will allow the use of flowers in any combination with other plants, as well as in individual plantings. The host will never disappoint its owner, but will fall in love with itself and subdue with its unpretentiousness, magnificent forms and various brightness of coloring.