by Joan Butler
4/12/2012

 According to the Perennial Plant Association, hostas are the No. 1 selling perennial in America. Gardeners appreciate their versatility, beauty and unique contribution to the home landscape. Hostas are shade tolerant and extremely hardy (many to Zone 3) and offer lush foliage with colors that include green, gold, blue and blue-grey. Their leaves may be edged with white and cream, or variegated with splashed or streaked contrasting colors that brighten shady corners

Hostas are native to eastern Asia and were introduced to the U.S. in the 19^th century. They range in size from very large, such as H. ‘Sum and Substance’ (20”x 15” leaves), to miniature, such as H. ‘Shining Tot’ (3”x 2” leaves). Recently, there has been an explosion of interest in miniature and small hostas. They offer the same colors and forms of their larger brethren, packaged in a smaller size.

Miniature and small hosta can be used in the landscape as ground covers, such as the all-green H. venusta, and as edgers along garden paths, such H. ‘Stiletto’, with its green leaves edged in white.

Miniature hostas are widely used in troughs, pots and rock gardens. When planted in garden settings, they look best grouped together and accented with other tiny perennials and conifers. In my garden, I have grouped three minis (H.’ Little White Lines’, H. ‘Shiny Penny’, and H.’ Baby Bunting’) with a dwarf variegated grass (Carex caryophyllea ‘Beatlemania’), the elegant Epimedium ‘Lilliputian’ and the dwarf Astilbe ‘Cobblewood Shooting Stars’. Scattered about are tiny Korean violets.

Planting miniature hostas in troughs and other containers is becoming increasingly popular. They should be sited in a semi-shaded location to keep their roots cool. Good drainage is required: potting soil mixed with some coarse sand is best. They must be kept watered. Slow release fertilizer should be sprinkled on the soil surface early in the growing season. Planting hostas in containers has the added advantage of protecting them from slugs, snails and voles.

Use your imagination when selecting containers to showcase your minis. I have seen hostas displayed with humor and to great effect in a rusted metal horse trough, in a Victorian pedestal sink, and in a grouping of clay drainage pipes placed on end. These planters contained a mix of textures and forms and fascinating plant choices that added distinction to the dwarf hostas in their midst.

Naturalistic trough gardens often include interesting rocks or bits of driftwood. Gardeners sometimes elevate these miniature gardens, to bring them closer to eye level. My trough garden features H. ‘Blue Mouse Ears’, with thick, rubber-like rounded leaves, and H. ‘Cracker Crumbs’, with pointed, green-edged gold leaves. These are planted with tough, small-scale perennials, such as a dwarf blue arctic iris, alpine lady’s mantle, mosses and creeping sedums.

Hopefully, hosta hybridizers have as much fun naming their new cultivars as I do hearing about them. I am amused by the names of ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ and its progeny: ‘’Cat and Mouse’, ‘Snow Mouse’ and ‘Mouse Trap’. Names like ‘Curly Fries’, ‘Baby Blue Eyes’ and ‘Little Dipper’ almost need no explanation. They are immediately intriguing

Many dwarf hostas produce flowers of delicate beauty. The one-inch flowers of H. ‘Little White Lines’ are dark purple, striped with white. You can’t resist bending down to give these charmers a closer look. Equally arresting are the closed, orchid flowers of H. ‘Tiny Bubbles’, and the plentiful lavender flowers of H. ‘Little Wonder’.

With so many possible uses and occupying such a small amount of real estate, is it any wonder that miniature hostas are gaining in popularity?

(Joan Butler is co-owner of Enchanted Gardens, a garden design firm in Holliston, www.enchantedgardnsdesign.com, and Chairman of the Massachusetts Landscape Design Council)