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Hosta is a plant that is loved by everyone – both beginners and professional designers. It successfully combines versatility, unpretentiousness, a kind of expressive beauty. One of the most popular varieties is hosta Katerina.
Host Katerina can be recognized by the yellow core framed by a blue-green border
Description of Hosta Katerina
Hosta is an ornamental leafy plant. She is rightfully considered the queen of the infield. It got its name in honor of the Austrian botanist Host. It is also called a function. There was also such a German botanist – Funk. Therefore, hostas have 2 names.
Hosta hybrid Katerina blooms in July-August. The entire warm season, from May to September, retains its decorative properties. Fits perfectly into any composition of landscape design. Features of this variety are as follows:
- the leaves are dense, blue-green, with a lemon-colored stripe in the center, heart-shaped, the diameter of the rosette of leaves is approximately 50 cm, a squat bush is formed of medium height, up to 35 cm;
- flowers are light lilac, funnel-shaped, peduncle up to 50 cm high;
- resistant to garden diseases and pests, not damaged by slugs, therefore does not require special treatment;
- seedlings and seeds grow well in moist but well-drained soils;
- can grow without a transplant in one place for about 20 years.
Hosta is known as a shade-loving plant. It grows well in the most shaded areas of the garden or flower garden. But modern breeding has developed varieties that can grow in open areas. Those hostas that have golden, white, yellow colors in their shades, as a rule, are not afraid of sunlight.
Host Katerina can also be attributed to such varieties. She loves shade and partial shade, like most of her relatives. But since it is a hybrid variety, it is adapted to the sun’s rays and can withstand exposure to midday. But this requires a small openwork penumbra, slightly covering its greenery.
Hosta Katerina is unpretentious and ideal for both experienced and novice gardeners, very resistant to cold. It grows at an average speed, it will take several years to form an adult bush. For cultivation, regions with a humid, cool climate are more suitable. A long absence of sufficient moisture, sunshine and heat for these plants is detrimental.
Application in landscape design
Hosta Katerina pleases with its lush greenery, peculiar coloring, and original shape of the bush. The leaves of the plant in the hands of an experienced florist make a great addition to any bouquet. It goes well in compositions with roses, carnations, ornamental herbs.
Hosta Katerina looks great on the banks of ponds, artificial garden ponds, in flower beds, where there are rocky hills. This plant does not like any even geometric lines and should not be planted along roads, preferably in a circle, for example, along the banks of artificial reservoirs. Hosta is often planted under the crowns of trees because of the light openwork penumbra created by the foliage.
Hosta Katerina can be planted along rocky paths, it serves as an excellent decoration for any garden.
Breeding methods
Until the hosta grows, weeds are regularly removed around it and the ground is loosened. After 3-4 years, when the bush grows and becomes quite sprawling, this will no longer be necessary. But a new problem will arise. An adult hosta loses its attractiveness and therefore it is better to seat it.
Division of the bush
Hosta Katerina is practically not afraid of a transplant. Propagated mainly by dividing the bush. If you dig up the mother plant in early spring (April-May, at +15 and above), cut the rhizomes in half, plant them immediately, then they will take root perfectly and quickly within 3-5 days, without losing either their strength or color.
You can correctly transplant hosta Katerina as follows:
- even before you dig out the host from the old place, you must immediately prepare the landing holes and fill them with water, do it better in 2-3 hours and pour about a bucket of water into each, let it gradually absorb;
- dig out the mother hosta, deepening the shovel further from the center of the bush in order to remove as much lump from the ground as possible and damage the root system as little as possible;
- with one sharp foot pressure on the shovel, cut the host in half – it is important that the blade goes straight to the ground in one motion, the rhizomes of the host are easy to cut and there are usually no difficulties;
- lower the resulting halves of the bush into prepared holes filled with water, put at the same level from the ground as the mother plant, not lower and not higher;
- sprinkle with earth and level it, water it again, pour dry earth on top so that a crust does not form on the surface.
It is important to divide the hosta bush with a well-sharpened and disinfected tool
Cutting
Sometimes, when processing a bush, individual shoots break off, which have almost no roots, but there is only a small “patch”. Such a cutting, if planted somewhere separately in a greenhouse or in the shade under cover, may well take root in a few weeks.
Reproduction by seeds
Most often used for breeding purposes. Freshly harvested seeds are planted in the ground in anticipation of winter. Or they are artificially kept at low temperatures for 3-4 months. The planted seeds spend the winter period in the ground, in a state of sleep. During this time, their hard outer shell softens and cracks. Seeds are stimulated to grow, resulting in surface rupture. Seedlings that appear in the spring develop, as a rule, slowly. Decorative properties appear only for 4-5 years of life.
Hosta Katerina easily tolerates the division of the bush
Landing algorithm
Rhizomes of hosta Katerina can be purchased at the store. Usually they sell young roots, with 2-3 buds, and, as a rule, open. They are rarely sprinkled with sawdust or peat. Bringing such plants home, they must be planted immediately. How to do it:
- dig a hole and make a mound inside it;
- lower the plant and fan out the roots, smooth around the center;
- lightly sprinkle with earth to just cover the root system;
- pour lightly with water, 1-2 liters will be enough for one young bush;
- after the water is absorbed, cover with a layer of dry earth so that there is no crust.
The plant must be covered with something, shaded so that the earth retains moisture for as long as possible. For this purpose, old boxes are used. Such a shelter will also protect the young host from animals that can dig a fresh hole and thereby destroy the bush. Small holes in the box will allow you to scatter the hot light and create a shadow. Such conditions will provide the necessary comfort in the first 10 days, while the roots take root.
Hosta Katerina is best planted in early spring. The landing site should not be exposed to direct sunlight. It is necessary that at least a slight penumbra created by nearby plants and buildings be present. Hosta Caterina can grow in almost any soil. But best of all takes root on well-drained soils with a neutral reaction, where the occurrence of groundwater is shallow. The least suitable soil can be improved with compost.
Reproduction of hosta Katerina by seeds requires a lot of attention and time
Growing rules
The root system of hosta Katerina is shallow, it forms close to the surface, so the plant is difficult to tolerate heat and lack of watering. It is necessary to try to pour water not over the leaves, but under the root, so that stains do not appear on the greenery, the wax coating, color and decorative properties do not disappear. One large bush requires about 1 bucket of water. Watering should occur every 1-2 days, with the exception of rainy days. The best time to choose is either early in the morning or after 7 pm.
Hosta Katerina is very fond of mulching, which allows you to keep enough moisture in the soil. To do this, you can use bark, wood chips, deciduous or coniferous litter, pine nut husks, peat, mowed grass and many other natural materials. Mulching helps not only to enrich the soil with organic matter, but also to improve its structure.
It is necessary to loosen the soil around the bush since April and periodically throughout the season. This will provide oxygen access to the roots of the plant, remove weeds that suck nutrients from the soil. Depending on the age and growth of the plant, loosening is carried out to a depth of 5 cm to 15 cm.
Additional fertilizing
If the plant was planted in fertile soil, then for the first 2-4 years you don’t have to worry about feeding it with anything. But after 5 years, organic fertilizers are used. Mulch the soil, introduce decomposed manure, mowed lawn grass, straw or peat. If an adult plant begins to bloom worse or turn pale, then granules of a complex mineral fertilizer are introduced into the soil, which contains potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen. And after that, the plant is abundantly watered to the very root.
If you need to grow a beautifully formed bush with bright decorative properties, you can’t do without regular top dressing on nutrient-poor soil. They are held 2-4 times per season:
- the first time – when only a planted hosta releases the tips of its future leaves;
- the second time during flowering;
- third time after flowering.
Preparation for winter
Many may say that it is not necessary to prepare Katerina hosts for winter, as this is a fairly frost-resistant plant, but this is a mistake. After the end of flowering, the flower stalks at the hosta Katerina are cut off so that the bush does not waste energy on the formation of seeds, does not become loose. Leaves do not need to be cut, they will cover the roots of the plant all winter.
And in September, preparations for wintering begin. And at this time, the hosts can be seated. In early September, it is necessary to mulch the bush well with grass and, preferably, peat. The compositions must be mixed, and not laid out in separate layers. The mixture should be dominated by peat. In the spring, it will serve as a good fertilizer when the plant needs nitrogen and other substances. You need to mulch before the leaves fall, that is, before frost.
A fading hosta is no less beautiful than a blooming hosta.
Diseases and pests
Hosta Ekaterina is considered a disease-resistant variety. But it may be susceptible to some diseases characteristic of its type:
- if the host has stopped blooming, this means that the landing site was chosen incorrectly;
- with irregular and insufficient watering, the leaves of the plant will dry out or turn yellow;
- rotting of the root neck can occur due to fungal infection, the leaves turn white and die, it is necessary to cut out the damaged area, treat the cut with fungicides, transplant to a new place;
- rodents damage the rhizomes, it is necessary to put poisonous baits.
Hosta Caterina has thick, veined leaves. Slugs, which most hosts suffer from, do not like to feast on this plant variety. Even if they climb a bush, they usually do not gnaw through it.
Conclusion
Hosta Katerina is a very beautiful ornamental plant. It does not require special care, even a beginner in floriculture can grow it. It can decorate any garden or flower garden, taking its rightful place in it!
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