i dont understand ...

a tree ...

or a dead trunk???

the tree matters ..

ken

ps: you have room ... presuming the tree cooperates.. for a multitude of mini hosta... some small hosta... 4 medium hosta.. and nothing larger ... IMHO

pps: how deep is the soil.. and can you dig in it.. without fighting the tree all that hard .. the more roots you cut to dig.. the more roots the tree will grow in there.. considered a pot in pot system ...

The tree is alive and healthy, the roots are quite deep. I wouldn't go larger than a medium-sized hosta.

A nice darker green medium, in my opinion, would be 'Devon Green', also 'Lakeside Coal Miner'. For small variegated, there are 'Grand Tiara', Grand Prize', 'Rainforest Sunrise' and 'Luna Moth', although 'Luna Moth' is kind of a small/medium, if you get my drift. Gorgeous plant, though.

Give this post a couple of days, and I think you'll have many plants to consider when more Forum members reply to your inquiry.

Cheers,
Don B.

P.S. Are you familiar with The Hosta Library? If not, I added a link...

Here is a link that might be useful: 'The Hosta Library'

There are so many to choose from! Try searching this thread for "favorite hostas," "top ten," etc, then look for the mediums. You might also go to the websites of any of the forum's favorite vendors, since they usually allow you to browse by size. A few such websites (google them for the exact addresses): Hallson, Naylor, Land of the Giants, Green Mountain. Select their medium or small category (depending on how many you want to plant and how big the tree trunk is), and see what catches your eye.

I will warn you, though...it was on just such a project that I first poked my nose in the Hosta forum 18 months ago, and now I'm pushing 100 hostas! It is addicting.

For what it's worth, here are the first mediums that come to my mind as personal favorites: I love Deep Blue Sea (highly textured blue with nice thick leaves) and Touch of Class (stunning variegation, also good sturdy leaves), El Nino (blue/white), and Candy Dish (beautiful solid green with a piecrust edge).

'Fair Maiden' is the hosta in the foreground. I have it planted under the much larger (in a couple more seasons) 'St. Paul' 'Fair Maiden' is my favorite small hosta, I am going to buy a few more clumps of it and get it going in various nooks and crannies in the gardens. Amazingly beautiful little hosta.

Don B.

Thanks, @Don, I have the one in the front. Thanks for all the input

Another rather smallish variegated that would work with Fair Maiden is Verna Jean. Slightly different in color pattern, but similar size.

Here it is last May. I got mine from Green Mt. Nursery in NH.

You mention tree pit, which means to me that there would be standing water on the frozen surface during some part of your winter, such as freezing/thawing and no drainage of the water for some time. That could lead to crown rot of hostas, worth to think about. Bernd