This is the Guacamole Hosta. The large leaves are apple green bordered by dark green margins. Bright light will encourage the brightest colors. This hosta is the 2002 Hosta of the Year.
Gardening is a passion of ours and hosta are a big part of our garden. Hosta plants seem to thrive in the cool damp climate of Highlands. So as part of our garden documentation I decided to share pictures and hosta names. We inherited a few hosta and I’m not sure of the names so let me know if you recognize any of our unnamed varieties. This is the Guacamole Hosta. The large leaves are apple green bordered by dark green margins. Bright light will encourage the brightest colors. This hosta is the 2002 Hosta of the Year. Fragrant Bouquet Hosta is the 1998 Hosta of the Year. This large leaf hosta has apple green leaves with a cream border. The Rainforest Sunrise Hosta is the 2013 Hosta of the Year. It is smaller in size reaching a height of 10” and a width of 25”. It has lovely goldish green leaves with dark green margins. Summer Music Hosta is a sweet medium-sized hosta reaching a height of 1 1/2’ tall and 2 1/2’ wise. My only complaint is that the slugs adore this plant as much as I do. It’s rare to see one of my three specimens without nibbled leaves. The Abiqua Drinking Gourd Hosta is the 2014 Hosta of the Year. It has deep blue-green seersuckered leaves that are deeply cupped. It is a large hosta growing to 22” high and 46” wide. It is delightful to see some of its cupped leaves holding a puddle of water after a rain. Potomac Pride Hosta has large, dark green, and shiny leaves. It reaches a height of 50” and 28” wide. Golden Tiara Hosta has heart-shaped small leaves. The leaves are green with chartreuse margins which gradually soften to yellow. I don’t have the name of this hosta but I like how it brightens up a dark spot. Does anyone recognize it? Here’s another unnamed hosta. This one was here when we bought Two Holt, but I don’t know it’s name. I first had this large hosta in the tub planter in our back garden, but it quickly grew too large and overpowered that planter. We moved it to the ground, but I lost my marker and now I’m not sure if its name. Maybe it’s a Sagae Hosta? This hosta was here when we bought Two Holt. I’m almost positive that it’s a Francee Hosta. This hosta has been popular for decades. Little Lemon Drop Hosta is in our window box in the Kitchen Garden. It’s a miniature hosta. Elevating it into a window box allows it to be noticed. Blue Mouse Ears Hosta is another miniature hosta which we planted in the large tub planter. This is another unnamed hosta which was already here before we bought Two Holt. Could it be a Sum & Substance Hosta? Isn’t this Anne Kulpa Hosta gorgeous? It’s a medium sized hosta with a white center. I think it’s a standout hosta! Autumn Frost has a blue green center with a yellow margin that gradually turns creamy white. It’s also slug resistant. This Stained Glass Hosta is the 2006 Hosta of the Year. The prominent veins give this hosta the stained glass effect. It would be hard to find another gold and green hosta as beautiful as this one. It grows to 15” tall and 34” wide. Forbidden Fruit Hosta is a stunning medium sized hosta with golden-yellow-orange centered leaves with blue green margins. I added two of these hosta to our garden last year and promptly lost the name tag. Do you recognize it? Night Before Christmas Hosta has elongated heart-shaped leaves with a creamy white center which gradually turns to a bright white. My plants are young but they will grow to a height of 48” and width of 25”. I bought these hosta from Home Depot. Unfortunately they were only labeled “Hosta.” I needed the color at the top of a garden wall to brighten the spot. I bought a flat of these unidentified hosta from Home Depot for a mass planting on either side of a bed of Hakone Grass. They are a blue green hosta with cream margins. I bought another flat of these unidentified hosta at Home Depot for another mass planting at the top of a garden wall. Home Depot is notorious for not labeling Hosta, but their flats of hosta are bargain priced! And finally I share with you one last unidentified hosta. I love this big boy! Presently it’s in a holding place at the edge of my hybrid rhodie bed, but I plan to move it soon to the edge of my woodland garden. I surely wish I knew its name! Did you know hosta comes in such a huge variety of sizes, shape, and colors? I’m so glad it’s happy here in Highlands. As our first contractor, Joe, said, “Them’s just Carolina weeds!” Well that’s one “weed” I’ll take anytime!
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Our gardening started with a flurry of activity in May this year. Most of our work was concentrated on our new Firepit Garden. With great delight I realized parts of this garden were bathed in full sunlight for most of the day while some areas enjoyed partial sun and some areas were in bright shade. Oh, my! I hit the gardener’s jackpot. Let’s start by checking out the pots around this new garden area. We planted a Red Twig Dogwood at the end of last year to test it and we were quickly persuaded to add two more this year. These shrub type plants were delightful last winter as we observed the bright red winter stems from the living room and kitchen windows. Butterfly bushes are a favorite of mine. I love the bloom and the way hummingbirds and butterflies flock to it. But the bushes can get big and spindly and I wasn’t willing to give up the prime sunny spots around the firepit for them. Then I happened to see dwarf butterfly bushes at a garden store. These beauties have regular sized blooms on a smaller bush—-reaching a mature size of 2’ high and wide. Score! I added three to the firepit garden. I also added three Stokes Aster which I hope will appreciate the sun enough to give us purple blooms for most of the summer. And of course we needed some lower growing plants at the top of the wall with all the bigger plants behind them. I added lamium and perennial geraniums which give continuous purple blooms. Three Brilliance Autumn Ferns went in this sunnier area. I wasn’t sure if I’d have to move them into a shadier spot, but they seem happy where they are. These aren’t our only ferns in this garden. I also added Ghost Ferns in a slightly shadier spot. It still gets enough sun to support our new hardy hibiscus which you can see in the picture below. We love native azaleas so we added three flame azaleas... ...and Weston’s Innocence, a white blooming variety... ...and Weston’s Ribbon Candy... White is a welcomed color in the shady areas of our fire pit garden and the woodland path that winds around the backside of it. We selected white blooming hybrid rhodies to wrap around the back of this garden. I added three of these Bridal Veil astilbe but I am already hoping to add more. On each side of the Astilbe I placed a grouping of these Night Before Christmas Hosta because no shade garden is complete without hosta! In the back of the firepit garden which is more visible from the woodland path, I planted woodland phlox and three of these Ruby Slippers Hydrangeas which are a dwarf oak leaf hydrangea. This ligularia was recommended by a gardening friend as a “must-have” so I added two. We placed three of these Fern Leaf Bleeding Hearts around some trees. And now we’re moving into a partly sunny area where I planted a Bloomerrang Lilac Bush... ...Rainforest Sunrise Hosta with Cardinal flower behind it... ...Lenten roses and perennial geraniums. We added two of these Kaleidoscope Abelia at the steps leading to the woodland path. We planted four different types of blueberry bushes and are hoping the black bears don’t find them! Speaking of bears, we hired a chainsaw carver to create Big Mama. She’s six feet long and lounges on our bedroom balcony. We love her! Here’s how she looks from the road... ...and did you notice our new bed of hakone grass in front of the Garden Bell Garden? I love hakone grass and it shows! We added another bed at the top of the wall of our kitchen garden. Now I can see it anytime from my kitchen window. I may need to rename the Kitchen Garden to the Hosta Walk Garden. We completed planting along the stone walking path there with these Golden Tiara Hosta. That pretty much catches you up with our 2019 gardening work. The incessant rain has kept us inside for over a week now. We’re anxious to get back out there soon! Happy gardening, everyone!
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Phil & SharonMarried 40 years and hoping to enjoy many more! Archives
December 2019
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