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04-02-2010, 07:22 AM
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Location: Rothschild, WI
4,972 posts, read 11,216,481 times
Reputation: 3384
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We have a shady front yard and I would like to fill the flower bed in front of the house with various hostas. I'm clueless when it comes to gardening. I've read that hostas do well in the shade. Does anyone know when a good time is to plant hostas? We live in Maine, so it probably won't get really warm until June. If anyone has recommendations for any other plants or flowers that do well in the shade, I'd appreciate it a lot! Thanks for any and all info!  |
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04-02-2010, 08:32 AM
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Location: A Yankee in northeast TN
14,384 posts, read 18,165,407 times
Reputation: 36364
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I've had luck with Bleeding Heart, Jacobs Ladder, Lily of the Valley, Columbine, Solomon's Seal, Creeping Wintergreen, and various ferns when I lived in MI.
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04-02-2010, 08:41 AM
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Location: Long Island
9,703 posts, read 21,519,546 times
Reputation: 5494
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Virginia Bluebells LOVE shade!  |
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04-02-2010, 03:51 PM
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Location: Rothschild, WI
4,972 posts, read 11,216,481 times
Reputation: 3384
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Thanks to you both! |
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04-02-2010, 04:31 PM
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Location: Coastal Georgia
44,627 posts, read 55,612,341 times
Reputation: 80091
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Hostas are awesome, hardy, easy to grow perennials. One thing you need to know is that the deer love them, so if you have a lot of deer, it could mean trouble.
The time to plant them is in the spring. They are kind of pricey, and I'm not sure why, because you can hack a big one into about six plants and in a season they will grow to good size. There are little bitty short ones and huge ones and there are many different colors, so you could certainly fill a space with an interesting variety of hostas. I'm in zone 5.
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04-02-2010, 09:40 PM
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Location: West 'Burbs of Chicago
1,216 posts, read 5,476,575 times
Reputation: 450
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Here is my new favorite place to hang out for info on Hostas.
Cubits.org: Hostas cubit [registration is free]
I LOVE them. only been into them about 3-4 yrs now, and i probably have 80 varieties, 70 or so named and the rest are NoID's.
Familiar yourself with HVX, it's a virus that effects hostas. [just google HVX] and if you are spending lots of cash on them, you would be quite upset if they were diseased.
As for planting ... as soon as your soil is workable. I'm zone5 and i've planted as early as April... but if they are unfurling, and you have a frost coming.. do cover/protect them.
here is one of my favorites
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04-02-2010, 09:54 PM
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Location: Long Island
9,703 posts, read 21,519,546 times
Reputation: 5494
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Early flowering one: primroses! They come in different colors and really look perky in those "dark" places, where the sun can't quite get to.
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04-03-2010, 07:06 AM
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Location: Rothschild, WI
4,972 posts, read 11,216,481 times
Reputation: 3384
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Thanks everyone! Great suggestions! |
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04-03-2010, 09:05 AM
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Location: Kirkwood, DE and beautiful SXM!
12,054 posts, read 22,068,291 times
Reputation: 31869
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If you have a Costco near you, they have packages that contain bulbs of several plants. They have a number of them that are specifically for shade. This is the first time that I have seen anything like this, but each package has about 3 different plants with varying heights for your garden. I lived in a home with lots of shade for years and never had anything like this. I always planted impatients because it was difficult to find plants that did well in the shade.
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04-03-2010, 12:31 PM
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Location: West 'Burbs of Chicago
1,216 posts, read 5,476,575 times
Reputation: 450
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Just don't buy hostas from "Big Box" stores they are notorious for infected plants.
OH -- one of the best sites to browse Hosta images and even learn about HXV...
http://hostalibrary.org |
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