For those of you that follow my page you will know by now I just love hostas whilst mine are all over the garden, hostas have no trouble holding their own in a shady garden. Yet there are many other shade loving perennials that make excellent companions. By adding their own contrasting colours, shapes, heights and textures, these plants accentuate the simple elegance of the hosta’s foliage. They can also add months of early season interest to your shade garden, interested in knowing more then please read on………………………….
Hosta Companions to Extend the Season
Hostas are usually slow to emerge in the spring. Rather than waiting around for them to appear, you can use this as an opportunity to showcase spring bulbs and early-blooming perennials. In the garden shown above, hostas have barely begun to sprout. Yet there’s already a tapestry of colour and texture. By midsummer, most of these early season plants will have disappeared and hostas will be occupy about 75% of the space or more.
Add Diversity Without More Work
Pairing hostas with other low-maintenance perennials is an easy way to add variety and sophistication. So, if you are thinking about creating a new shade garden from scratch, or have an existing shade garden that could use a little spicing up, consider pairing hostas with some of these easy, shade-tolerant companion plants.
ALCHEMILLA (LADY’S MANTLE)
Velvety, spring-green leaves with zig-zag edges. Silvery hairs on the leaf surfaces turn water droplets into jewels. In early summer, lady’s mantle produces large clusters of tiny chartreuse flowers that are excellent for cutting.
ASTILBE
Tidy, trouble-free plants with attractive, dark green foliage. Astilbes showy, midsummer flowers have a fuzzy texture and colours range from white through pink, red and violet.
DICENTRA (BLEEDING HEART)
Dicentra emerges in early spring, and quickly grows into an impressive 3 to 4 foot plant. Shortly after the blossoms fade, the leaves die back to the ground and the plant disappears until the following spring. This gives neighbouring hostas plenty of room to spread out.
EUPHORBIA (SPURGE)
The garden-worthy varieties of this plant have a neat, mounding habit. Their colourful foliage is usually far showier than their flowers. Foliage colours range from chocolate brown to burgundy, orange, blue-green and chartreuse.
FERNS
Ferns are as easy to grow and as long-lived as hostas. Their graceful form and finely-textured foliage is the perfect counterpoint to the hosta’s broad leaves and bulkier stature.
PERENNIAL GERANIUMS
Perennial geraniums are among the toughest and most reliable perennials you can grow. Though they are usually planted in full sun, most varieties grow equally well in partial shade. The texture of their foliage has a lacy effect and the growth habit is loose and mounding. Flower colours vary from white and pale pink to lavender, blue, magenta and maroon. Most varieties of perennial geraniums will flower on and off from late spring through autumn .
HEUCHERA
Heuchera is grown primarily for its decorative foliage. You can choose from dozens of different varieties, with leaf colours that range from shiny burgundy to coppery-orange and lime green. In addition to their beautiful foliage, heuchera also produce midsummer flowers that attract hummingbirds in their origin although I can’t say I have see any in Peterborough.
LAMIUM (SPOTTED DEAD NETTLE)
Lamium maculatum is a lovely ground cover for decorating the edge of your hosta garden. In addition to its silvery foliage, lamium also produces showy pink, purple or white flowers in late spring. Although lamium is a popular shade garden perennial
PULMONARIA (LUNGWORT)
Here is another shade-loving plant with lovely foliage. Lungwort’s velvety, lance-shaped leaves are speckled with silvery-white spots. During late spring, the plants are covered with clusters of pink, blue or purple flowers, sometimes all on the same plant the beauty of this plant is as it fades in late may pull away all the current wilted growth and you will be rewarded with a 2nd flush in late July
TIARELLA or HEUCHERELLA
Tiarella or Heucherella is an endearing native plant with foliage that’s similar to a heuchera, but not as flashy. It tolerates more heat and humidity than heucheras. The pale pink or creamy white bottle-brush flowers that appear in late spring, added bonus there are some stunning trailing varieties perfect for hanging baskets.
SPRING-FLOWERING BULBS
Yes In know you are saying Spring but the garden is all about planning rather than last minute. Spring bulbs are ideal companions for hostas. Eligible candidates include early-bloomers such as miniature daffodills, scilla,& muscari . For another family of bulbs that will stretch the season into late spring, consider alliums. After these spring bulbs have finished blooming, hostas will quickly cover up their fading foliage.
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