Best Hosta Choices for Beginners
One of the reasons that hostas have remained so popular in the perennial garden is the beauty of their leaves. For the first-time hosta grower, though, there are some hostas that are easier to grow and care for than others.
Here at Sunset Hosta Farm, we grow and sell a number of great hostas at an affordable price. These are the hosta cultivars that we think are the easiest to grow and are perfect for new hosta growers.
Click on the hosta name to see more pictures and descriptions.
Mature Size: Large Height: 22” Width up to 40”
If you want a bright yellow color and you want it fast, this is the hosta for you. Dancing Queen has deep veins and heavily textured leaves. It emerges bright yellow in the spring and fades to pale yellow over the summer. Lavender flowers contrast nicely with the golden foliage in mid-summer. Place near dark blue or green hostas and watch it stand out. A fast, reliable grower, too.
Mature Size: Small to Medium Height: 9” Width up to 24”
Friends grow into a small mound of rippled gold foliage. The tips of the leaves are slightly twisted. The leaves will brighten to yellow by mid-summer. It's a fast grower and very pretty. Displays lavender to white throats in late summer. Looks great in groups, and in the front of a hosta bed.
Mature Size: Large Height: 24” Width up to 54”
Guacamole is one fast grower and will fill an area quickly. It forms large, dense clumps and thrives in partial shade where the sun can brighten the leaf centers. Its avocado green leaves are shiny with a dark green wide margin. The leaves are moderately folded. Fragrant white blooms appear in early summer making it perfect for planting near walkways, patios, decks or paths. Very sun tolerant. 2002 Hosta of the Year.
Mature Size: Mini Height: 7” Width up to 15”
Hush Puppie is the perfect border or edging plant because of its vigorous growth rate and smaller size. It has cute twisted dark green leaves with white creamy edges. It blooms purple in early summer. Great for fairy gardens, rock gardens, and troughs and especially cute when planted en masse.
Mature Size: Medium Height: 15” Width up to 38”
The blue-green heart-shaped leaves of Blue Cadet are heavily textured and have a nice mounding habit. Its vigorous growth habit will fill an area quickly. Tubular lavender flowers rise above the foliage mid-summer. It's a very popular blue hosta because of the variety of uses as a border, ground cover, edging plant. Great for containers, to boot!
MATURE SIZE: Medium Height: 18” Width up to 30”
The reverse sport of H. Patriot, this hosta features dark green margins and white centers. The leaves are of very heavy substance. It displays pale lavender flowers in mid-summer. A great specimen plant and a real beauty. Always on top of the customer favorite list and one of the best white-centered hostas ever!
MATURE SIZE: Large Height: 23” Width up to 50”
A Sunset Hosta Farms favorite. This sport of H 'Francee' has stunning, very dark green leaves surrounded by a pure thick white margin. One of the most popular white-margined hostas for good reason. Pale flowers appear in early to mid-summer. Sun tolerant, too. Pictures don't do this one justice.
MATURE SIZE: Large Height: 26” Width up to 60”
The compact shape of So Sweet makes this hosta ideal for edging a shady garden. The leaves are glossy green with creamy yellow margins that fade to white later in the season. Its compact growth makes it great for containers, too. It’s sun tolerant as well as fragrant. 1996 Hosta of the Year.
Mature Size: Mini/Small Height: 8” Width up to 19”
A sport of 'Blue Mouse Ears', this charmer boasts thick round variegated leaves with a creamy margin. It will attract hummingbirds in late spring with its short spikes of dark lavender flowers. Cute! A must-have for any mouse-ear collector.
The Tiara Series Hostas are all small and easy to grow.
Size: Small Height: 12” Width up to 20”
Amber Tiara has thick chartreuse oval-shaped leaves with a blunt tip. It forms an attractive dense mound. The flowers are light purple on 22” scapes in late summer. Give this Tiara more sun for its best color.
Size: Medium Height 14” Width up to 24”
Emerald Tiara is the reverse mutation of H. 'Golden Tiara.' It emerges early in the season and boasts the same round textured oval leaves as other Tiaras but with gold centers with beautiful green variations appearing throughout the season. One of its best features is that it will sport hundreds of dark lavender flowers in the summer that bloom into the fall. Very cute. Sun tolerant, too.
Size: Medium Height 16” Width: Up to 30”
Golden Tiara is a medium-size mounding variety. It has chartreuse to gold margin surrounding a medium green center. Medium to deep purple flowers appears in late July. It’s sun tolerant and will brighten up any shady area. Looks great in wide shallow containers. 1996 Hosta Merit Award winner.
Size: Medium Height: 18: Width up to 44”
The leaves of Grand Tiara are thick, heart-shaped, ovate and wavy. The gold margin is much wider than 'Golden Tiara' which gives the effect of a golden yellow leaf with a center splash of green. Good sun tolerance. The morning sun enhances the leaf color. In summer, the clumps are literally smothered with scapes of purple flowers making it one of the most popular Tiaras.
Size: Small Height 12” Width up to 30”
Platinum Tiara Hosta is a white margined sport of H ‘Golden Scepter’. The small, roundish leaf is a pale green-gold with a white edge and some light streaking throughout. This is a tremendous grower and looks great in masses. A real charmer and a Sunset Hosta Farm favorite.
Mature Size: Medium Height: 20” Width up to 35”
A beautiful hosta from the Star Trek series and a sport of Captain Kirk, Vulcan is a fast-growing white-centered hosta that has large, broad creamy white leaves with dark green margins. Irregular gold streaks occur along the interior margins where the white and green overlap. Pale lavender flowers emerge in mid to late summer. Holds it colors throughout most of the season. A real stunner, and a Sunset Hosta Farms favorite.
Mature Size: Medium Height: 16” Width up to 36”
An oldie but a goodie. Wide Brim shows off its rippled emerald heart-shaped leaves with buttery margins. Attractive flower buds open to slender spikes of pale lavender flowers in mid to late summer. Prefers shade three-fourths of the day. Site with good light to filtered shade for its best color.
Mature Size: Medium Height: 18” Width up to 40”
This early emerging and fast-growing hosta grow into a three-foot-wide clump of shiny green/blue leaves with a wide rippled golden margin. It's topped with 20” scapes of lavender flowers in mid-summer. Prefers full shade to light shade or potted. A real eye-catcher.
Mature Size: Medium Height: 14” Width up to 36”
Stunning by itself or in a group, First Frost is a real beauty. Unlike other hostas that begin to fade as early as August, First Frost keeps looking good well into the Fall. Photos do not do this 2010 Hosta of the Year justice. Beautiful blue/green leaves with yellow to white edged margins. It blooms lavender in late summer. Also slug resistant and sun tolerant. Best sited in filtered morning sun and afternoon shade. One of the prettiest variegated hostas and a Sunset Hosta Farm favorite.
Mature Size: Medium Height: 16” Width up to 37”
June's leaves are of thick substance, 6” long and 4” wide at full growth making it very slug resistant. It sports a nice gold center and blue-green margins. The leaf center will turn green if sited in deep shade. Pretty lavender blooms in the summer. A sport of the popular H. Halcyon. Very pretty as well as sun tolerant. Part of our Hosta of the Year series. (2001)
Mature Size: Mini/Small Height: 8” Width up to 19”
2008 Hosta of the Year for good reason. The medium blue/green mouse ear shape of the leaves is nothing short of adorable! Outstanding lavender to white lily-like flowers atop graceful stalks in summer. Great for rock gardens, fairie gardens, and borders. Very popular and a must-have for any hosta garden.
Mature Size: Very Large Height: 36” Width up to 72”
One of the largest hostas available today and one of the earliest hostas to emerge in the spring. It has broadly ovate leaves which form a huge mound of lime green leaves with a glossy texture. The leaves of Sum and Substance change to yellow when exposed to more sunlight. It has pale lavender blooms in mid-summer. It's sun and heat tolerant. Deserved the distinction of Hosta of the Year in 2004.
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A word of warning: There is a reason there are so many HostaHolics! They're like good potato chips. You can't have just one!
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I really like the Mighty Mouse!
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DeleteHave you seen the blue mouse ears?
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