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It is interesting to know that in fact the hosta can be planted in the sun, contrary to the established notion that the “queen of the shadow” does not tolerate bright light. Most species of this plant are indeed shade-loving, and their natural habitat is dense twilight under the crowns of trees in a humid forest, a cool bank of a reservoir, an overgrown failure of a ravine or a mountainside. However, there are also such functions that look great and develop under the rays of the sun – in an open area, in the middle of a meadow, in a river floodplain. First of all, these are plantain hosta and its hybrids, but varieties are currently bred based on other common species, among the advantages of which is the possibility of planting in illuminated places. If you take into account the rest of the preferences of the hosta, which is not afraid of the sun, and arrange for proper care for it, you can ensure that these sprawling ornamental perennials will grow successfully in all corners of the garden.
Can hostas be planted in the sun?
Of course, not every hosta tolerates landing in bright sun well. However, if you choose a copy of a suitable variety and create favorable conditions for it in a lighted area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe garden, then the plant may well feel comfortable.
To date, many varieties of hosta have been bred that feel good in the sun.
When deciding which host to land on the sunny side, you need to take into account the following factors:
- Morphological features of the variety. If the hosta has thick, glossy leaves, then its resistance to the rays of the sun is definitely higher than that of specimens with thin and matte plates. The smooth, shiny surface reflects the rays well, and due to the dense structure, the green mass retains moisture better.
- Coloring of plants. Hosts with yellow and golden leaves are best tolerated by the sun, even if only the middle or edge is painted in this color. Varieties with white stripes and spots tolerate an excess of light somewhat worse. And finally, blue-blue hostas with a wax coating on the surface of the leaves are exceptionally shade-loving. The sun melts this protective layer, which protects the plant from burns, age spots, fungal diseases, and excessive evaporation of moisture. As a result, the bush ages prematurely and dries.
- Climatic conditions of the region. If summer comes early and is usually dry and hot, then it will be much more difficult for the hosta to adapt to a sun-drenched area than in conditions when this time of year is usually wet and cool, with a lot of cloudy days. Proper agricultural technology will help to correct the conditions set by nature: organizing timely watering and shading the bushes at noon, planting them in the openwork shade of tall shrubs and trees.
The color of various hosta varieties growing in the light can sometimes deviate quite significantly from the varietal standard:
- the greens turn pale;
- blues take on green hues;
- yellows either become brighter (in lutescent varieties) or turn green (in viridescent varieties).
In any case, it is impossible to predict exactly how a hosta of one variety or another will look and feel growing in the sun. Usually this is found out empirically by planting a bush in the appropriate conditions and observing it.
The Best Hosta Varieties for Sunny Places
The most crucial stage is to decide which function is to be placed on the illuminated area. Below are descriptions and photos of hosta varieties that are most suitable for sunny places.
Sun Power
Classic medium-large (up to 60 cm tall) hosta with domed bushes and showy pale lavender flowers. Its leaves are elliptical in shape with a pointed end. Veins are clearly visible on their wavy, slightly corrugated surface. The color of the young foliage of Sun Power is greenish.
With age, the color turns into a rich golden if the hosta grows in the sun, or becomes close to the color of a lime in partial shade.
Blue Mouse Ears
‘Blue Mouse Ears’ is a popular mini-hosta about 25 cm high. Its silver-blue leaves with a slightly wavy edge resemble hearts and, due to their dense texture, are invulnerable to slugs. Winters well. It grows slowly, is actively used as a ground cover crop or for planting in containers.
Hosta Blue Mouse Ears prefers partial shade, but is great in the morning sun
June Fever
“June Fever” is a low (35-45 cm) compact hosta with small but dense drop-shaped leaves. Their color is bright yellow with a thin emerald border around the edge. When planted in full sun, June Fever leaf color becomes brighter, but almost loses contrast.
Blooms June Fever in the second half of summer with light purple flowers
Devon green
Medium-sized hosta (up to 45 cm) with glossy dark green hard leaves, on the surface of which veins are clearly visible, and lavender flowers. The shape of the leaf blade is broadly oval with a pointed end. The bush is dense, dense, the leaves overlap each other.
Hosta Devon Green is a versatile variety that grows well in both sun and shade.
Fire Maiden
“Beautiful Maiden” is a very decorative hosta of medium size (the bush reaches 20-30 cm). The edges of its wavy, slightly concave gray-green leaves are edged with creamy white or yellowish contrasting “feathers”. Fair Maiden grows slowly, does not tolerate heavy soils. Can be planted in both sun and partial shade.
In the second half of summer Hosta Fair Maiden is decorated with large white-lavender flowers.
Empress Wu
“Empress Wu” is recognized as the tallest decorative hosta in the world. The height of its bush reaches 1,2-1,8 m, and the width of a massive dense leaf with a waffle surface structure is about 40 cm. The color of the leaf plate is dark green, in spring it is covered with a bluish bloom. The bush grows very quickly, provided that sufficient soil moisture is maintained and regular top dressing. Large lavender flowers on tall stems appear in mid-July.
Grows Empress Wu in sun or shade
Blue Ivory
Blue Ivory hybrid variety of medium size (up to 45 cm), capable of growing into a wide bush up to 1,2 m in diameter. The central part of the dense, heart-shaped, slightly elongated leaf is bluish-blue, while the wide border along its edge is creamy white with a yellowish tint. Flowers delicate, light blue. Grows well near ponds.
Hosta Blue Ivory prefers partial shade, but can also be in the sun, provided it is shaded during the midday hours.
Francee
The lush, fast-growing bush hosta “France” has the shape of a hemisphere and can be up to 70 cm in height. Its leaves are dense, juicy, dark green, with a narrow white uneven border around the edge. When planted in the shade, the green color is richer, in the sun it is lighter.
The flowers of the France variety are large, funnel-shaped, lavender, with a delicate pleasant aroma.
Christmas Candy
“Christmas Candy” can also be attributed to the sun-loving hosta varieties. A straight-growing bush is able to grow up to 45 cm. The leaves of Christmas Candy are oval with a pointed end, dense, large. The central part of them is painted in ivory and retains this tone throughout the season. Irregular wide border around the edge is dark green.
The ideal option for lighting the landing site of the host: in the morning – the sun, the rest of the time a slight shadow
Guacamole
The wide leaves of this large (up to 60 cm tall) hosta are egg-shaped, glossy and have a well-marked venation. The color of the plate at the beginning of the season is close to a shade of lime or green apple, over time it changes towards golden.
The dark green border of Guacamole along the edge of the leaf is hardly noticeable and only appears when the hosta stays in the sun for several hours throughout the day.
Sow Sweet
A compact hosta of medium size (40-50 cm) is characterized by slightly compressed, bright glossy green leaves with a wide, uneven yellow-creamy border, which by the end of the season has time to fade to white. So Sweet grows quickly, tolerates light partial shade and open sun.
So Sweet flowers are fragrant, white, with a faint lavender tint.
Irish Luck
Luck Irishman is a very unusual, large hosta about 60-70 cm high, always recognizable by the characteristic glossy sheen of plain, dark green leaves with a wavy edge. Leaf blades with pronounced veins, slightly elongated, on long petioles. The bush is growing rapidly.
Irish Luck is shade-loving, but also tolerates the sun well.
Captain Kirk
A variety of medium height (60 cm) with fleshy dense leaves of a rounded shape. In the middle, each of them is painted in a bright light green-yellow color, while a wide border of a rich green hue is noticeable along the edge. Captain Kirk grows well in moist, acidic soil.
Blooms Captain Kirk by the beginning of August with large pink-lilac flowers
Lemon Delight
Miniature (up to 20 cm) fast-growing hosta with lanceolate thin leaves with a wavy edge, distinguished by a green center and a narrow golden border. It blooms with bright lilac buds, beautiful and very plentiful, sometimes even twice during the season.
Lemon Delight prefers sun in the morning and light shade the rest of the day.
Sam & Substance
Among the yellow-leaved varieties of hosta that grow well in the sun, this beauty is considered one of the largest and most spectacular. Its height is about 90 cm, and the width of the leaf plate reaches 38 cm. The adult Sum and Substance bush has a domed shape and grows rapidly. Its wide leaves are curved like a “cup”, they are dense, pointed and moderately corrugated. The color of the central part of the leaf is light green, gradually turning into yellow along the edges.
In the sun, the yellow pigmentation of Sam & Substance intensifies
The aureomargin
Variety hosta Fortuna, growing up to 50 cm. It is characterized by wide oval leaves resembling hearts of rich green color with a thin olive border along the edge. In the sun, Aureomarginata does well, but the color becomes somewhat paler. Grows fast.
Aureomarginata has excellent frost resistance.
Striptease
Striptease owes its name to a narrow white stripe running through the yellowish center of the leaf and its wide dark green edges. The plates are dense, with a slight sheen, slightly wavy.
Planting a variety in the sun is possible, but the most strikingly unusual color of this hosta will manifest itself in partial shade.
White Feather
Compact plant up to 30 cm tall with lanceolate, glossy, creamy white leaves. During the season, green stripes gradually appear on them, filling almost the entire plate by the end of summer. The White feather variety is frost-resistant. It is immune to many diseases.
White Feather does not need pruning and grows rapidly
Tattoo
The bright leaves of this mini-hosta (bush height up to 15 cm), golden-light green with a green edge, seem to be decorated with a “tattoo” pattern in the form of a maple leaf. In adult plants, the pattern is more noticeable, and the plates look slightly pressed. The bush grows slowly.
Tattoo prefers partial shade, although it can tolerate the sun in the morning
Features of caring for sun-loving hostas
Caring for hosta varieties that grow in the sun is to create favorable conditions for these plants to remain strong and healthy, showing their varietal characteristics to the best of their ability. Regardless of where these plants are planted, they need:
- sufficiently moist nutrient soil;
- regular loosening and weeding of weeds;
- 2-3 fertilizing with complex fertilizers during the season;
- protection from diseases and pests.
At the same time, some elements of care should be treated with special attention if the host is supposed to be grown in the sun:
- Landing in soil with a suitable composition. The soil should be light, loose and moist, ideally a loam with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction. To increase the nutritional value, it is advisable to prefill it with organic matter (leafy soil, compost, rotted manure). Mandatory conditions are good aeration and drainage.
- Properly organized watering. The leaves of a hosta growing in the sun actively evaporate water. In this regard, they must be watered abundantly as the soil dries up, moistening the earth by about 10 cm in depth. It is advisable to do this in the morning or in the evening, carefully making sure that the drops do not fall on the surface of the leaves, otherwise the daytime sun can severely burn them.
- Mulching the soil at the roots with crushed tree bark, wood chips, fine gravel. This will help keep moisture in.
- Shading at noon. This measure is especially relevant if the high air temperature (more than + 35 ° C) along with the bright sun lasts for a long time. You can equip an artificial cover or canopy for the host, or create an openwork shade by planting tall companion plants on the south side.
Hosta will be an excellent decoration for a sunny area of the garden with the right choice of variety and proper care.
Diseases and pests
Significant damage to the health and beauty of a hosta growing in the sun can be caused by some diseases. Most often, gardeners face such troubles:
- Solar burns. The leaves lose turgor and wither, discolored spots appear on their surface, the tissue in these places quickly dries out and crumbles.
Obviously, an excess of sun is detrimental to the host, so it is advisable to organize shelter from the scorching rays or transplant it into an openwork shade.
- Root collar rot. The plant must be dug up, carefully cleaned of the roots from the ground, cut off the damaged areas with a sterile knife and treated with a fungicide. After that, it is necessary to transplant the hosta to a new place, in well-drained light soil.
The disease manifests itself in discoloration and the rapid death of foliage, while the plates dry out or become wet and sticky.
- Infection with the HVX virus. It can appear 2-3 years after infection of the plant. At an early stage, an unnatural, spotty color of the leaves is characteristic – the appearance of strokes, stripes, seals, “mosaics”. The disease cannot be treated, so it is important to prevent infection of healthy plants: disinfect inventory and tools before transplanting and pruning, keep purchased specimens in quarantine before planting next to those that are already growing on the site; to acquire a host that strictly corresponds to the description of the variety.
In the late stage of the virus, root rot develops and the host dies
The most common insects that harm the host are slugs and snails. They gnaw through multiple holes with torn edges in leaf blades, and leave traces on their surface. Chemical preparations (“Slug-eater”, “Thunderstorm”), as well as mulching the soil under plants with broken shells, pine needles, and wood ash will help to cope with them. Gives results and manual pest collection.
Conclusion
When choosing which hosta can be planted in the sun, you should correctly determine its variety, taking into account such features as the thickness of the leaves, their color and surface texture. It is also important to take into account the specifics of the climate in the region where the site is located. If you prepare suitable soil for the plant, provide it with sufficient watering, regularly loosen and mulch the ground under the roots, and organize shading in the middle of the day, then the rays of the sun will most likely not prevent the hosta bush from being a luxurious and beautiful flower bed decoration.
