Hosta perennial herb is often used today in landscape design. Specialists appreciate it for adaptability to the place of landing, resistance to diseases, unpretentiousness in leaving, high decorativeness. An adult bush in one place can grow up to 25 years without transplantation, while maintaining the rich color and size of the leaves.
This plant feels great in shady corners, where other cultures are uncomfortable. In the International Register today there are over 4 thousand types of hosts. And this is not the limit. Breeders annually add new names to the list. In this article we will tell you about this plant, about how to grow a host from seeds at home, what kind of care does it require. The photos presented in the material will help you choose the type and grade suitable for your site.
Description of hosts
Stemless herbaceous perennials belong to the asparagus family. The plant was named after the famous botanist from Austria - N. Host. It has another, less common name - function. The genus of the Host is represented by numerous species and varieties. The height of most of them ranges from 50 cm to 1.20 m.
Cord-like numerous roots grow 20-30 cm in depth. Reliable support for hosts are their intertwined branches. The decoration of the culture is a luxurious hat of leaves. Having a heart shape, they are located on long petioles. In different species and varieties, they differ in shape and color.
At the very end of August, and in the southern regions at the end of July, the hosta blooms with lilac, lilac and white flowers. Graceful brushes consist of funnel-bell-shaped or funnel-shaped flowers. Many flat seeds are found in a leathery trihedral box. They are painted in black-brown or black. Throughout the year, planting material retains its properties.
Landscape designers and gardeners appreciated this culture for its undeniable advantages: the ability to grow in the shade, cold resistance, decorativeness. In order for the host to demonstrate its beauty in full, you will have to wait about five years. With age, it becomes more and more colorful: it throws out large leaves of a characteristic shape and shade.
Types and varieties of host: white-fronted (Hosta albomarginata)
This beauty came to us from Japan. Attractive bright bushes in the gardens have been growing for almost a century and a half. It is easy to understand why this species got its name - a white border adorns the sheet plate along the perimeter. This species prefers partial shade, tolerates frosts, and perfectly develops on light soils.
Blue angel
Hosta "Blue Angel" is a lush domed, somewhat squat bush with beautiful flowing foliage of blue-green color, which at the end of the season turns dark green. The leaves of the plant are large: their length reaches 40 cm with a width of 30 cm. The ends are slightly curved down. The surface of the sheet plate is corrugated, covered with bright parallel veins. The height of the bush varies between 70-80 cm, but under the most favorable conditions, the plant can grow up to a meter, and its diameter is about 1.2 m.
Fragrant flowers, resembling hyacinths, are on erect sturdy peduncles. They form conical racemose inflorescences. The color of flowers can be different - from snow-white to fawn-lavender. Small leathery boxes filled with black achenes about three millimeters long are the fruits of this variety. It is characterized by high growth rates. Long flowering begins in late July or in the first decade of August.
In nature, this plant grows in moist broad-leaved forests and near lakes. This explains the requirements for the Blue Angel host site and its care. The hybrid feels comfortable on drained, humus-rich, loose soils with good water and air permeability. The soil should always be moderately moist. You should not plant these plants on sandy dry soils. If necessary, the composition can be slightly corrected (for example, excessively acidic soil can be fertilized with lime).
Hosta ventricosa
This hosta species is a native of northeast China. It has been cultivated since the second half of the 18th century. Bushes are powerful and wide. Their peduncles can grow up to 1.2 m in height. At this hosta, the leaves are heart-shaped, they are rounded at the base of the plate, and pointed at the top. They are not only monophonic, but also two-tone. This variety requires good moisture and soil drainage.
Aureum maculata
This recently bred hosted bloated variety is famous for its colorful leaves: the center of the leaf is painted in a light yellowish-green color, with cream, green, yellow stripes. The edges of the plate are limited by a dark border. At the end of August, the bushes turn green. In complete shadow, they lose their motley color.
Hosta undulata
To understand why the plant got its name, just look at its leaves. They are elliptical, oblong, rather long - about 20 cm, and wavy. Depending on the variety, the color can be both solid green and multi-colored. This variety hosts from Japan. The plant was cultivated at the beginning of the XIX century.
Erromena
Surprisingly tenacious, unpretentious and resistant plant. It develops well in the shade, undemanding to the composition of the soil, does not require complex care. Prefers moist areas. The leaves of light green color have a heart-shaped shape, flowers of a beautiful lavender hue appear on fairly tall bushes (up to 80 cm) in late July or early August.
Univittata
One of the most common and popular varieties that can be grown in shady areas of the garden. Shrubs up to 90 cm tall in spring or autumn lend themselves perfectly to division, although they can grow for a long time in one place without transplanting. Univittata blooms in June-July with purple-lilac flowers that look great against the background of white in the center, with a green border and pale green stripes of leaves.
"White feathers"
The nobleness and beauty of the leaves of this hosta can be appreciated in the shady corners of the garden. On young white leaves up to 15 cm long, bright green stripes appear as they grow. Over time, they fill almost the entire plate. The bush grows to a height of 55 cm.
The flowers, painted in pale lavender, almost white, appear on the bushes from July to September. This host is cold-resistant, unpretentious, shade-tolerant, decorative, practically not susceptible to disease. Hosta "white feathers" prefers well-moistened fertile soil, but stagnation of moisture is destructive for her.
Hosts are a few plants that can be propagated in various ways: dividing the bush, seed.
How to grow a host from seeds?
Experts estimate the host germination rate at 80%. Planting seeds, previously soaked in a growth stimulator, begin in early April. Experienced growers are advised to use a sterile substrate that guarantees successful seed cultivation. It should include perlite, vermiculite and peat. The mixture corresponding to these parameters should be purchased in specialized stores.
For planting, small plastic flower pots with holes at the bottom for outflow of excess moisture are suitable. Before planting, they must be treated with ethanol or a solution of manganese. At the bottom of the pot spread drainage, then a moistened substrate. Hosta seeds are scattered on the surface of the soil mixture and sprinkled with it in a thin layer (no more than 5-7 mm).
To preserve moisture and create a greenhouse effect, the containers are covered with a film and put in a warm place (about +25 ° C). The first shoots appear three weeks after sowing the seeds. After this, the container with seedlings should be rearranged in a well-lit place.
Dive seedlings
If you want to grow a host from seeds, you can not ignore agricultural activities aimed at strengthening seedlings. After the first two leaves appear, you can begin to dive seedlings. One plant is planted in separate pots with a diameter of not more than 10 cm, filled with soil. They are installed on pallets filled with water, which provides lower watering.
Pots should be covered with a sheet of glass or film. After two weeks, the shelter can be removed. Seedlings need to be tempered, taking it out onto the street at first for 10 minutes, and then increasing the time of the “walk”.
Outdoor landing
When the threat of freezing frost passes, the hosts are transplanted, or rather, strengthened and grown seedlings, in open ground. When planting young plants, it should be borne in mind that their roots grow horizontally, so the holes must be made wide.
Before planting, water the seedlings abundantly and immerse the bushes in the holes with an earthen lump.
Host Care
It is important not only to know how to grow a host from seeds, but also to follow the rules for caring for plants. They include traditional events for ornamental plants: weeding, regular watering, cultivation, top dressing. To make your bushes look beautiful and neat, you need to cut young flower arrows in a timely manner. This will not allow the leaves to develop sideways.
The owners of these plants believe that the more white and yellow stripes on the leaf blades, the more demanding the plant is to light. But even if the host is planted in a sunny place, at noon it should be sheltered from direct rays.
Watering
Too much moisture evaporates from the broad leaves of the hosta in the summer heat, which often becomes the main problem in care. Dark spots appearing on the ends of the leaves indicate that the plant lacks moisture. In summer, the plant is watered every day. In this case, waterlogging of the soil should not be allowed. After irrigation, the soil is loosened and fed with mineral and organic fertilizers.
Top dressing
The host receives the main food from organic fertilizers. They are introduced during mulching. To do this, you can use one part of the infusion of mullein with potassium sulfate, ammonium nitrate and two parts of superphosphate. In April, May and July, plants are fed phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen. Top dressing is carried out at the beginning of the growing season, before the formation of flowers, and after flowering.
Mulching
The host is usually planted in the shade of large trees or shrubs that take away a lot of useful substances from the plant. Mulching this problem will help to solve. To do this, it is advisable to use compost, freshly cut grass.
Preparing plants for winter
We figured out how to grow a host from seeds. It's time to figure out how to prepare the plant for winter. Hosta is a frost-resistant plant, so it does not need special shelter. Sometimes, especially in the northern regions, fallen leaves are not removed from the soil around the bushes and they are ensured that a layer of snow covers them. If you follow all the rules of caring for a plant, it retains its attractiveness for 15 years.
Beautiful bushes of a host of various types will become a bright and original accent in the design of your country or garden plot. Caring for these pretty plants is extremely simple, and the spectacular flowering and unusual coloring of the leaves will revive even the remote corners of the garden.