A design that prioritizes color, texture, and form puts these shade perennials at center stage
When my hubby and Ibought our nursing home in North Vancouver in 1992 , I was a initiate nurseryman . Our leverage give me the enviable chance to create a Modern garden from a blank canvas . Anything was possible , but that also necessitated constitute thoughtful choices at the outset to conduct the evolution of the design .
I found a distich of plants I was unfamiliar with in the original space : a medium - size of it mound of square green foliage , and a similar works that was small with white variegation in the center of the leaves . They were happy and welcoming , and I felt very comfortable with them . So begin my hosta ( Hostaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–8 ) addiction . Since then I ’ve learned through visitation and error how good to like for and contrive with genus Hosta . First , I made my garden more hospitable for growing them . Then , as I added young works , I locate them in fix that reserve their unequalled colors , textures , and form to beam .
Make the site hosta-friendly
Over the years , I have had to make a number of alteration to my garden to support my hosta addiction . My property is at the base of the North Shore Mountains in British Columbia and close to the sea . Water drains from north to south across the garden , and at clock time of laboured rain there can be flood . I have had to build berm in some area to keep the foundation of some plants out of sluggish soil . In improver to excess wet , I lot with clay soil in some places . Adding lots of compost in these region increases drainage and creates the rich , fertile territory that hostas crave . I also mix in some George Sand to extenuate the sogginess .
In increase to building berms , I ’ve made other geomorphological changes to create adept conditions for my preferred plant . It was clear to me that the garden I had when I grease one’s palms this prop was too sunny for most hostas , apart from a few sun - tolerant variety , such as ‘ Gold Standard ’ and ‘ Sun Power ’ . To make the necessary refinement , I began transform the flat , cheery space into trenchant areas divided by marvellous plants that would protect the hostas from cockcrow sun . I removed much of the lawn and created footpath around the perimeter of the garden ( photo above ) . By abut both sides of those path with tall plants , it was potential to double up up on the shade mould in each surface area and produce a well-chosen home for many genus Funka beneath them .
A reprehensible violent storm come to North Vancouver in 2007 and uproot a bunch of alder trees ( Alnusspp . , Zones 2–9 ) from a neighboring property that smashed down through the garden , demolish many plants and structures . One casualty was a mature Lawson’scypress ( Chamaecyparis lawsoniana , Zones 5–7 ) , which was split in half , leaving a large sunlit area . This make me an chance to recreate the blank space and make way for more hostas .
To supply the necessary good afternoon subtlety , I planted a curving wall of ‘ Degroot ’s Spire ’ arborvitae ( Thuja occidentalis‘Degroot ’s Spire ’ , Zones 3–8 ) . This is the thoroughgoing evergreen for shading Hosta because it has a compact habit and maintains its slender profile as it raise . It does n’t butt outany of the hostas plant under it , and it provides a soft green backdrop to colored genus Funka institute or hang nearby , such as ‘ Inniswood ’ and ‘ Love Pat ’ .
Because of limited space I have to be careful about adding with child hostas to my garden , but if a works is a must - have — a dish that really catches my optic at a baby’s room or in a catalog — it ’s coming home with me no matter what , even if all blot in the garden are taken . This often means transplanting existing plants until everyone ’s glad . To engagement , the most labor - intensive example of this process has been make elbow room for my ‘ Empress Wu ’ genus Funka ( pic above , top left ) . This impressive plant can grow 4 foot tall and 6 feet wide . I needed to move many large perennials to make elbow room for it . The 2 - foot - wide foliage of ‘ Empress Wu ’ shadow everything around it . So to poise the Empress ’s cinch , I build a berm to its ripe side , which provides elevation , light source , and airflow to smaller plant beneath it .
Use color and form to determine plant placement
My goal in designing the garden was to make a calm and relaxing space , and that decision influenced both its flow and its color palette . I chose industrial plant with cushy colors , such as coolheaded blues , whites , pink , and butter yellowness . The orbit of colors present in hostas naturally made them a consummate pick for this color schema . There are no sharp intake of breath when wandering throughhosta - focused purpose — only foresightful , relaxed exhales . But calm does n’t mean tedious , and the genus Hosta in my garden are strategically come out in field that highlight their beneficial feature and make them beam . One of the earliest large hostas to stretch out out in spring is the greenish - and - yellow - variegated ‘ Liberty ’ , and it always attracts aid . ‘ Liberty ’ is strategically plant in a far corner as a focal point . It ’s the first large genus Funka that visitor see when they recruit the garden ( photo above ) .
A big thoughtfulness in choose which hostas to plant next to each other is color . Complementary color ( opposite colors on the coloration wheel ) form well to add demarcation to the design . aristocratical and yellow are complementary colour , so I planted ‘ Piedmont Gold ’ hosta , with its rich sensationalistic foliage , next to ‘ Elegans ’ genus Funka ( H. sieboldiana‘Elegans ’ , Zones 4–9 ) , which has powdery blue folio . Nearby yellow - motley Funka ‘ full Brim ’ and ‘ Carolina Sunshine ’ blend the tones of ‘ Elegans ’ and ‘ Piedmont Gold ’ , create profoundness and cohesion in the blueprint .
A repeated colour motif like this can also be used to manoeuver the eye in a specific commission . Along one of the Harlan Stone paths , I ’ve planted white - motley hostas like ‘ Sea Thunder ’ among hostas with satisfying bluish green colors to manoeuver a viewer ’s gaze down the way ( photo above ) . While many of these hostas are similar in size , nearby ‘ Lakeside Ripples ’ is several times larger . Its broad foliage create textural contrast and cast anchor the scene .
While create shade allowed for many more genus Funka purchases , the garden was soon fill to capacity , and it then became necessary to imagine imaginatively about substitute planting options . Containers and pay heed basket came to the saving . Another epiphany was upgrade some potted - up genus Hosta on pedestals , which enable them to be layered and permit me showcase specialty plant . pilfer ‘ Restless Sea ’ reveals the milklike undersides of the leaves , and when a breeze cruises through the leaves , the look is that of move water .
Hostas make a strong contribution to the computer architecture of the garden , and it is their textured and colorful foliage that does all of this heavy lifting . Their flowers can be fragrant with colored scapes , but I call up that the flowers are a distraction from the beautiful foliation . It ’s my hubby ’s job to veer down prime scape as they emerge in spring . He fix the pruners with ammonia between plants to be dead sure he does n’t transmit any disease from one plant to another .
In case you are enquire , I have integrate many plants in my garden that are not genus Hosta . But they are there to provide direct contrast ( with color , texture , or form ) to the virtuoso — the genus Funka . make grow this garden has been a thirty - year cognitive operation . While it continues to acquire , I ’ve achieved my goal : to make a calm , soothing designing with Hosta at the essence . As I keep do room for must - have specimens , I continue to make style for hostas .
Delphia Johnstone is a womb-to-tomb nurseryman who lives in North Vancouver , British Columbia .
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Hostas step into the limelight while staying in the shade.Create the ideal conditions, choose a variety of stunning cultivars, and place them based on their complementary features to showcase the best that this genus has to offer.Photo: doreenwynja.com
Out with the lawn, in with the new.To make a more hospitable environment for hostas, much of the lawn was removed and replaced with towering trees, larger shrubs, and tall perennials that provide pockets of shade.Photo: doreenwynja.com
Loss provides a chance for growth.When a storm uprooted several mature trees and left a sunny gap in the yard (above), a swath of tall but narrow ‘Degroot’s Spire’ arborvitae were planted to provide shade without edging out understory perennials (below).Photo: courtesy of Delphia Johnstone
Photo: courtesy of Delphia Johnstone
The right plant demands the right space.To accommodate certain must-have hostas, the proper conditions had to be created. Several large plants were moved to make room for ‘Empress Wu’ hosta (above). Berms were built throughout the garden to provide better drainage for hostas that resent soggy soil (below).Photo: Michelle Gervais
Photo: doreenwynja.com
Photo: doreenwynja.com
Balance color and texture for a stunning effect.The large, veiny green leaves of ‘Lakeside Ripples’ hosta (right) offer a textural and color contrast to the small, variegated, smooth leaves of ‘Sea Thunder’ hosta (left). The pairing captures your attention, while a teal motif leads the eye down the path.Photo: doreenwynja.com
