Head-note: Descriptions summarized from the great hosta book The Genus Hosta, by W. George Schmid.

The Lore of Hostas

Just exactly what is it about these perennials that attracts so may gardeners? Certainly the lists of benefits include

• Hardiness (zone 3-4)
• Longevity (can't kill 'em)
• Durability (look good all season)

• Mounding (groundcover)
• Mounding (clump)
• Erect

COLOR: Hostas have four main colors: blue-green, green, yellow, and white. Please refer to the color group chart. I will also include with color the glossiness of the leaf. Color is not all there is that make up a great hosta cultivar, but it certainly at least ties for first along with texture. Variegation is not everything, some of the plain green hostas are within my top 20 favorite hostas!

The other complex variable which goes hand in hand with color is the amount of the color and its location on the leaf. Examples: wide irregular margins, very distinct but thin margins, shape of center color, glosstisity (new word) etc. I suppose that I can only end with the beauty of the color is in the eye of the beholder. The spring color also may not be stable all year round. The most stunning example of unstable color is hosta fortunei 'Albo-picta' (spring, summer), and hosta 'Gold Standard' (spring, summer).

• Viridescense. Cultivars emerge with white or yellow leaf colors that ultimately become increasingly green.
• Lutescense. Cultivars emerge green or chartreuse and turn to yellow or whitish yellow.
• Albescense. Cultivars have yellow, yellowish green, or green areas that turn to near white.
• Blue to Green. The loss of blue is caused by the loss of pruinose epidermal wax, which produces a blue, glaucous sheen over a green background color.

TEXTURE: We can comment regarding the texture of hostas concerning the veins, leaf shape, leaf surface. These subjects are quite detailed, so please refer to the linked pages for each subject. The following is a synopsis of texture contributed by each of the discussion areas:

• Veins, can be almost invisible, to being the most striking element of the particular hosta cultivar.
• Leaf Shape, one of the primary ingredients to texture.

Leaf Shape	Length to Width Ratio L:W	Example Cultivars
Strap-shaped	Ratio 12 or more to 1
Lance-shaped	Ratio 6:1 to 3:1	H 'Chartreuse Wiggles'
Egg-shaped	Ratio 2:1 to 3:2
Heart-shaped	Ratio 6:5
Circular	Ratio 1:1

• Leaf Surface, is the leaf flat, curled, cupped, drapped, being another prior ingredient to texture.

Leaf Surface	Description
Flat	Surface has even and smooth features
Rugose	Distinctly and predominantly rugose; that is, leaf has uneven features. Example descriptions include dimpled, puckered, pursed, embossed, ruffled, pleated, wrinkled, and crinkled leaf surfaces.
Cupped-rugose	Leaf surface is rugose and also cupped.
Wavy-undulate	Leaves are relatively smooth but wavy and undulate.
Contorted	Leaves are contorted, warped, or distorted.
Piecrust	Leaves have closely spaced, distinct, regular, marginal undulations.
Furrowed	The principal veins in most cultivar leaves are slightly sunken, creating a ribbed effect.

MOTION: Unlike grasses which has distinct motion in the wind, hostas are best viewed in the calm. High winds can damage the leaf stem and shred the leaves. I had a large potted hosta setting on the driveway one day. During the day (while away at work) wind gusts climbed to 50+ mph. The hosta was a shredded, broken heap of unsightly vegetation. Generally, hostas can sustain without injury considerable wind, but they do have their limits. I could probably make the statement without argument that no hosta could survive even an F1 tornado :-).