Flowers In Pots : Hostas…perfect plants for pots

This month’s post from the Flowers In Pots series is all about hostas and planting them in pots is ideal as you’ll find out later in this post.

Hostas are herbaceous perennials, which means:

Herbaceous – A plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level.

Perennial – A plant that lives for more than two years.

They’re a very popular plant variety with a wide range of leaf colours, sizes and shapes and tend to look their best this month after their new leaves have unfurled fully, but before they’ve time to be jaded by the summer heat.

Hostas flower in the summer and the individual flowers are either white, lavender or violet in colour, as shown in the images above.

So what are the advantages of planting hostas in pots?

If you’re familiar with hostas, I’m sure you’ll know that they are nectar to slugs and snails – turn your back and the next thing you’ll know is that the luscious foliage has been turned into something that closely resembles a doily!

Planting them in pots means that you can keep the slugs and snails at bay either by using a copper band around the pot or by sprinkling slug pellets around its base. (TIP: If you’re going the slug pellet route, use a brand called Ferramol as it’s not harmful to other wildlife.)

Planting hostas in pots will enable you to really make the most of the wonderful arching foliage.  If you have a corner on your terrace where the paving meets a house wall, a hosta in a pot could be just the ticket to soften the whole look.  For large areas of paving, try placing your hosta with other planted pots – a cluster of different sized pots will give any space more dimension.

When you’re choosing the pot, think about how large the hosta will grow.  The ultimate size will depend on the variety of hosta you choose but you want the foliage to come over the edge of the pot as it does in the main picture above.  Hostas are shade-loving plants, therefore if you have a very dark and dingy corner, you might want to use a cream variegated form to lighten up the space and give some added texture.

So, if you’ve been having problems with your hosta plant being eaten by slugs and snails, why not transfer it to a pot?

(Images : Lisa Cox, Flickr/friendsofmountauburn)