Garden Bed #12 - page 5

Hosta 'Swirls'

"A fantastic new streaked sport from H. Geisha that forms a very dense medium-sized mound 16" tall and 30" wide. The leaves are brilliantly streaked in the spring, having a mix of green with gold streaks. Leaves change to chartreuse with faint streaking in late summer. Purple flowers show up in August and September."
(Comments - Hosta Library)

My friend Connie is really into streaked hostas. Her garden boasts an explosive collection of beautifully hued / streaked hostas. One winter she did extensive research on "streakers". She discovered many streaked hostas I didn't even know existed. The best part of the story is she shares her plants with me most of the time. So 'Swirls' is not only a lovely little playful display of color but really special because Connie shared it with me.

'Swirls' is most vibrantly colored in early spring as with many streaked hostas, but it holds color all season long. It blooms playfully & sets fertile seed that produce streaked seedlings. Hosta 'Swirls' is fun in the garden & could be fun in small containers. It's a good thing all the way around.

Hosta 'Blue Wedgwood'

When I'm asked what is your favorite blue (hosta), my immediate reply is 'Blue Wedgwood'. Why? Well, yes, because I love it & it is actually blue. I didn't know 'jack' about hosta hybridizing or any of that stuff when I started planting hostas. I just 'dumb-lucked' buying hosta 'Blue Wedgwood' (and yes, I used to mis-spell it). I never think those questions about favorites are fair at all. There are too many perfect plants out there, and they come in all shapes, sizes, leaf shapes, colors, & color patterns, just to name a few criteria. So it may be more appropriate to say 'Blue Wedgwood' is my favorite medium sz, upright-mound shaped, gray-blue colored, wedge-shaped leafed, very heavy substanced, white blooming hostas in my gardens. But it's still my favorite Blue!

"This Eric Smith hosta comes with an interesting story. Another of the Tardiana series, it has good substance and heavily seersuckered leaves that are cupped-rugose. It makes a very nice mound (24 x 14") and has lavender flowers on 16" bloom scapes, but takes several years to mature. It was first named 'Blue Wedgewood' buy Alex Summers because of its wedge-shaped leaves, but was mistakenly registered as 'Blue Wedgwood (which is correct...without the second "e"), referring to its light blue color resembling the famous Jasperware produced by Wedgwood & Sons. To add to the confusion, because of distribution errors some of the plants cultivated under this name are actually 'Blue Dimples', which does not have a wedge-shaped leaf."
(Comments - Hosta Library)

Hosta 'Platinum Tiara'

Awarded - Distinguished Merit Award 1989

Another in the 'Tiara Series' hostas. Very fun little plant. Not as hardy or hale as some of its relatives but really a bright beauty in the garden or containers.

Viola 'Mars'

To tell the truth, I never thought I would pay real money for a violet (I mean they grow like weeds) but when I spied Viola 'Mars' I knew I had to have it! Secretly, I hoped I wouldn't be sorry in the end. Wild violets have been known to be invasive in my gardens thus being deemed weeds. Yes, remember, one definition of a weed is "a plant out of place".

I didn't notice 'Mars' blossoming after I brought it home & stuck it in a shady spot in bed #12. I thought maybe I had just missed it for the season. However, with just a little research I learned the blooms are underneath the leaves which may make them difficult to appreciate. I don't know, hopefully I will learn the real story next season if I take the time to pay attention & keep an eye on this little fellow.

Violet flowers are so sweet & precious to behold, I would love it if this little plant would "bloom its fool-head off". But I was attracted to Viola 'Mars' just for its striking foliage, nicely substance, ovate, green leaves with contrasting dark red-purple, finger-like veins, streaking upward like miniature bolts of lightening, zipping to the pointed leaf-tip. How cool is that!

Hosta 'Brave Amherst'

Dark blue/green rounded, slightly shiny leaves with wide creamy-white margins (bright yellow in spring) / moderately rippled, & very heavily substanced.

'Brave Amherst' is now the focal point of Bed #12A. It is pretty darn big & just a fantastic plant. It is special to me because my neighbor, Trudy gave it to me. It is a favorite in her gardens also. It is a good grower & really nice even before it reaches it's Leap Year (3 y-o). Each year it just gets bigger & better! Another plant no shade garden should be without! IMHO - MM

Hosta 'Diva'

The very first National Hosta Convention I attended was 2004 hosted by the Russ O'Hara Hosta Society of which I was a fairly new member. Russ O'Hara's garden was opened for touring during the convention. Russ' daughter had worked hard to rejuvenate the garden for the event. I wish I could have visited there while Russ was tending the garden. I think we would have been best of friends. The garden was still an impressive, peaceful oasis in the city. As we all know, one thing is for sure - the garden is ever-changing. I often think what will happen to my gardens when I am not here to care for them.

The O'Hara garden was so inviting; no one wanted to leave and return to the real world. Of all the flora flourishing in that little paradise, one single plant stood out from all the rest. It was Russ' introduction, hosta 'Diva'. Her name is befitting. (She reminds me of Madonna, all blonde & fancy & beautiful & strong & so alive!) 'Diva' proudly stands, strong & tall, commanding the center of attention among all hosta peers.

Bob Solberg put Diva into tc (tissue culture) propagation. I was 'waiting in line' to buy it. And the fact that Solberg proclaimed 'Diva' a true 21st Century Hosta during a presentation in front of hundreds of hosta experts "sealed the deal". I had to have a hosta 'Diva'.

The picture from my garden is of the single-eye tc plant I bought 6-17-04. I'm all ready envisioning how perfect 'Diva' will be next year when she begins to reach full maturity. Ooh-lala! - MM

MyHostaDatabse / Hosta Library comments:
"It (Diva) is a limey yellow and has heart shaped leaves with a slightly rippled margin. It sold in the 1997 auction for $1300. Does that say it all? 'Diva', looking aptly named. It is a beautiful shade of lemony, chiffony yellow with a cast of limey sorbet about it. Stunning!

A plant from Russ O'Harra that was recently registered by the Russ O'Harra Hosta Society in Des Moines: leaves are light green to golden-yellow with a slightly rippled margin. They have a dull finish, moderate corrugation and good substance. A vigorous plant topped with white flowers in June."

Hosta Montana 'Mountain Snow'

Hosta 'Montana Mountain Snow' is a magnificent plant. However it is for the patient gardener only. Montana hostas are famous for being 'slow'. They are always the last to emerge in spring. Just about the time you decide they are dead & never going to come up again, their eyes appear, pushing up the soil, pronouncing survival. This plant has tried my patience over our years together. But in its defense, part (maybe all) of the problem was / is my ignorance.

I used to think any hosta would grow like crazy even if it had been chopped up & just thrown in the dirt without any fuss. I had a lot to learn. Montana Mountain Snow was one of the hostas that taught me well. It had to be moved from its original planting spot due to tree root competition. Tree feeder roots were strangling all the plants in that area (long story). MMS looked pretty bedraggled & limp when I dug it out of there. It was put in a pot in the 'recovery room' for a several weeks until it was invigorated. I didn't have a safe place to plant it in the ground so it was included in a large tub planting. It didn't like it there too much either. It began to decline in size again. MMS doesn't seem to like competition for its vital needs / nutrition. I was about to throw it in the compost pile but then decided to give it one last chance to redeem itself. I finally put the poor thing in the ground 2 years ago. Now it is awesome. What a wonderful plant! I love it! And I'm still learning! - MM

'Mountain Snow' creates a large vase-shaped mound of white-margined foliage. The white often jets into the plant leaf randomly following certain veins to the center vein itself, and young new growth often shows much more white. The size is 60 x 27" with 40" flower scapes. The flowers are fertile and pale lavender in color. The leaves are ovate and have good substance. The hosta originated as a tissue culture sport of an ordinary green form of montana at Q&Z Nursery. The white margins are much narrower than montana 'Aureomarginata'. It was registered in 1988 and emerges late in the growing season.

Comments "Hosta Library"

Tricyrits - Toad Lily

As you may have gathered by now, my garden is really more of a perennial foliage garden than anything else. If a perennial plant has a beautiful blossom it is certainly a plus but often flower shows are short-lived. Some plants are nearly non-stop bloomers but not many in the shade garden hold true to that premise. I'm not saying I don't appreciate flowers! I do! But I want plants in my garden with 'staying power'. I admit there are some perennial plants that are worth growing just for their flower-power such as roses, clematis, lilies, etc. And I do grow annual flowers also. Annuals fill-in gaps in the perennial garden & are a joy in their own right.

So when I came across this little toad lily with its fantastic colored leaves, I knew it had to come home with me. I don't know if it is a dwarf variety or just has not grown-up yet. It would be fine with me if it never grew 'up'. This plant had the tiniest, daintiest, sweetest flowers late this summer. They were just the best! But again the foliage is what persistently adds interest, color, shape, & texture to the garden. Perseverance is the key to success in life & in the garden. - MM

Tricyrtis (Toad Lily)

"Toad lilies are sort of like Smuckers™ jellies...with a name like that, they gotta be good. For late summer and fall flowering in a woodland or light shade garden, there is nothing better. In late summer, they burst open with orchid-like blooms that last almost until frost in some varieties. We feature some new varieties this year, with many more exciting ones in the future!"

"If you have purchased or see a nursery offering T. 'Raspberry Mousse', discard it immediately as it is heavily infected with Tricyrtis floral virus."

Plant Delights: Toad Lilies

Tricyrtis Virus by Chris Wilson 'Hallson Nursery'

Ketzel Levine's Talking PLants

Toad Lilies: The Genus Tricyrtis by Barry Glick