Contents
Hosta is used in gardening and landscaping to decorate plots as an ornamental leafy plant. For growing at home, various varieties of culture have been bred. One such variety is Hosta Robert Frost. The description and rules of agricultural technology will help to grow it successfully.
Description of Hosta Robert Frost
This hybrid form of a perennial shrub grows up to 50-60 cm, reaches a width of 90 cm. Round-heart-shaped leaves are large (25 by 22 cm), dense, the surface is slightly wrinkled, dark blue-green in color, uneven yellow-cream stripe, by the end of the season it turns white. The leaf blade has 12 veins.
Like many hostas, Robert Frost plants grow well only in shade and partial shade. The best place for them is under the trees, where there is no intense sunlight. Burns may appear on the leaves in the sun. The soil in which the hostas prefer to grow should be loose, moist, but drained (it does not grow well on dry sandy ones), neutral or slightly acidic. The frost resistance of the Robert Frost variety is high, the host can be planted in almost any region. Drought resistance is average, in hot years abundant watering is required.
Hosta Robert Frost blooms in July-August, throwing out a peduncle 90 cm high. The flowers are pale purple, funnel-shaped, have a pleasant smell.
Bush hosta Robert Frost is important to plant only in shady places – otherwise burns cannot be avoided
Application in landscape design
Hosta Robert Frost can be planted along the edges of paths in the garden, at the borders of lawns, in front of ornamental shrubs, near ponds. The plant looks good both in single plantings against the background of lawn grass, and in a group with other crops. Fit with:
- ferns;
- coniferous with small leaves;
- anemones;
- primroses;
- astilbes;
- liverworts;
- decorative cereals;
- lungwort;
- geyher.
Peduncles with lilac fragrant flowers can be cut and placed in water.
The size of hosta Robert Frost allows it to be grown in voluminous pots. They can be installed in the corners of the garden to decorate them, near residential and outbuildings, on terraces and verandas.
Breeding methods
Robert Frost hostas are best propagated by dividing the bush and cuttings. It is necessary to choose adult 5-6 year old bushes, they easily tolerate transplantation, this does not adversely affect their development. The growth of plants that have not reached this age may stop after transplantation. The best time to propagate by division is spring and the end of August, to September, but experienced growers use this method throughout the season, from April to November, with good results.
In the spring, the host is divided immediately, as soon as young shoots begin to appear, the bush is dug up and the rhizome is cut with a knife or shovel into the required number of pieces (each should have at least 1 rosette). You can not completely dig out the entire bush, it is enough to separate part of the rhizome from it, transplant it, sprinkle the cut with ash and cover it with earth.
Host cuttings suitable for transplantation are rosette shoots with pieces of rhizome. They are planted first in a shady place or in a separate greenhouse. To reduce the intensity of evaporation from the cuttings, the upper halves of the leaves are cut off. It takes about 1 month for them to root.
Hosta Robert Frost is best transplanted by dividing the bush
Landing algorithm
Robert Frost bushes should not be placed in areas that have already grown hostas to protect them from possible infection by pathogens remaining in the soil. In one place, these plants can remain up to 20 years, so the choice of site must be approached responsibly.
Planted 3-5 plants per 1 square. m. The dimensions of the landing pits should be at least 0,3-0,4 m in diameter. At the bottom of each, a layer of drainage is laid from small pebbles, broken slate or brick chips. Then follows a layer of a mixture of excavated earth mixed with humus, compost and ash (or mineral fertilizers).
The cutting or cutting is deepened to the same depth at which they were previously located – on the mother plant. They are sprinkled with earth, watered, slightly compacted the soil.
Growing rules
After transplanting the hosta variety Robert Frost needs regular watering. Adult bushes, despite the powerful root system, also need to be watered, especially in dry, hot summers. It is due to irrigation that an increase in the green mass of the host occurs. It is necessary to water under the root, it is not recommended to pour on the leaves, the wax coating on the surface is washed off from the water.
Large-leaved hosta bushes keep weeds from growing, but they need to be weeded before they grow, as the plants are sensitive to soil cleanliness. Mulching can solve 2 problems at once – reducing the amount of watering and weeding needed to care for the hosts. Mulch inhibits evaporation of moisture and the growth of harmful vegetation. As a covering material, peat, pieces of bark, dry grass are used.
Hosta Robert Frost responds well to fertilizer, it stimulates flowering, decoration. Top dressing is carried out 3 times a season: in spring, at the beginning of stem growth, before and after flowering. The deadline for application is the beginning of August, if fertilized later, the plants will not have time to prepare for winter. After flowering is completed, flower stalks must be cut off so that seed set does not occur.
Friendly flowering hosta can decorate a path in the garden or a curb
Preparation for winter
Hosta Robert Frost is frost-resistant, it is not required to cover it for the winter, but it is necessary in cold climates. In autumn, the bushes are mulched with dry sawdust, shavings, peat, hay, and straw. Roofing felt, film and other similar materials that do not allow air and moisture to pass through are not recommended so that the host does not start to rot and rot.
As for pruning for the winter, gardeners have different opinions on this matter. Some argue that it is necessary to cut the leaves, others that the plants should overwinter with leaves, since pruning weakens them and reduces frost resistance. They advise to remove the old foliage in the spring.
Diseases and pests
The main pests of the hosta hybrid Robert Frost are snails and slugs. Pests gnaw holes in leaf blades, this affects their appearance and functionality. To prevent the appearance of mollusks on the bush, tobacco dust or ash is added to the mulch spread around it. Traps are set – wet boards, stones, slate, cans of beer, under which slugs crawl. Every morning you need to check them, remove pests. If you need to quickly get rid of them, insecticides will help.
The leaves of the plant infect aphids and nematodes. In places of punctures left by aphids, spots often appear, indicating a fungal disease. The presence of nematodes can be established by brown stripes located between the veins of the leaves. Nematodes harm not only hosts, but also other ornamental crops. It is difficult to get rid of them, but you can try to destroy them with drugs specially designed for the fight – nematicides.
Diseases affecting hosts are fungal (phyllostictosis, anthracnose, gray and root rot, rust) and viral. Signs of phyllostictosis are large spots of yellow-brown color. Pathogens are stored in plant debris, so every autumn, all stems and leaves left over from autumn pruning must be burned. The defeat of gray rot begins with the tips of the leaves, then it spreads to the entire plate. If the disease is not running, spraying with a solution of fungicides will help. Root rot is manifested by a slowdown in the growth of the bush, yellowing of the leaves. The affected specimens need to be dug up, the rotten parts of the rhizome should be carefully cut off, treated with a fungicide, and the hosts should be transplanted to a new place.
Hostas do not cure viral diseases, diseased bushes are destroyed
Conclusion
Hosta Robert Frost has not only beautiful leaves that adorn it throughout the season, but also attractive fragrant flowers. It is combined with many ornamental plants, but also looks good alone. It can be grown almost throughout Our Country, it is unpretentious, does not require special care, except for systematic watering.
Reviews
