A few favorite Hostas

Hostas have become my favorite perennial in my shade gardens. They come in many colors, sizes and variations and are very easy to grow and maintain.  If there is one con about hostas it would be that the deer and slugs love them as much as I do:(
I think they are especially beauitful after a rainfall so after the rain today I took a stroll through my garden and thought I'd share some of my favorites with you.

First Frost

Every year the AHGA (American Hosta Growers Association) select a hosta as "Hosta of the Year".  Plants awarded HOTY are not necessarily the latest or the greatest hostas, but are chosen more for their performance and availability in all areas where hostas are grown.

 First Frost has blue-green leaves with a yellow margin that fade to white by summer and was added to my garden last year.

First Frost was named the 2010 HOTY.

June

It's hard to pick a favorite hosta but June comes as close as possible. June has blue-green margins with chartreuse centers. The centers will turn white if it gets too much sun, so keep it in shade. This hosta stays small and compact, so it's perfect for a shady border or edging. HOTY in 2001.

 Sagae

HOTY 2000. Sagae has large heart-shaped leaves with wavy edges and prominent veins. This hosta has bright green leaves with a gold margin but later the leaves will turn to a frosty, silvery-gray-green with white margins. Another beautiful hosta!!

Paul's Glory

Center leaf is yellow in spring, white in summer with a blue-green margin. This was HOTY 1999.

The leaves on Paul's Glory are just starting to develop a seer-sucker texture which gets more prominent as the summer goes by. 

Zounds

Zounds has beautiful gold foliage and really brightens up a dark spot in the shade garden. Zounds is one of the last hostas to emerge in the spring and is a very slow grower. I have had this one for at least 5 or 6 years and it's barely grown. I did move it to this spot last year because it wasn't doing good where I had it, and I do think it looks better this year.

Heavily puckered  heart-shaped leaves provides texture and contrast to other plants. 

Striptease

Striptease has  unique coloration with it's dark green leaves and chartreuse center, and has a distinctive white stripe between the center and the margin. This is another great hosta and was named HOTY 2005. This was a new hosta in my garden last year.

Abiqua Drinking Gourd

This hosta has gorgeous blue-green  foliage and is one of the more unusual hostas I have. The leaves are cupped upward and actually hold small pools of water after a rain...hence the name.

The thick puckered  leaves on this one makes it slug resistant. The thicker and heavier the leaf, the less appealing they are to slugs.

Christmas Tree

This hosta is one of the fastest growers and one of the oldest hostas in my garden. I divided this one a few years ago when I thought it was getting too big, but now I prefer to just let them grow and only divide if I want another plant.

Spilt Milk

This is new to my garden this year and has unique coloration with blue-green leaves that are streaked and speckled throughout the leaf. I think the spilt milk effect will get more prominent as the plant gets bigger.

Well.... that was more than a few hostas but it's hard to choose, and I have to include one more here in my favorites.

Blue Mouse Ears

Blue Mouse Ears is a charming little hosta and was HOTY 2008. It has thick blue-green rounded leaves and it's slug resistant.

Miniature hostas work great in rock gardens, containers or fairy gardens. Surrounding them with rocks in the garden draws your eyes to them as they tend to get "lost in the crowd".

In the future I want to add more miniature hostas to my collection. I think they are just adorable.