I can't help you id your NOID, but if you post a close up pic of the NOID and close up of a leaf (along with some details like how long it has been there, measurements and when it flowers) those that can...will :-)

Deb

Very pretty garden, by the way!

Deb

I don't particularly care what the name of that hosta is - I just want to know whether you think it looks like it would fall into the category of a green hosta that could handle deeper shade....

Sorry, I don't know about placing your hosta. Just wanted to say that your garden is beautiful. Looks like you have put a lot of work into it.
The poodle is adorable also!

I can't offer any advice, but I can't pass on the chance to tell you I'd love to live in that lovely shed! Your garden is beautiful...such a peaceful place...you just may get more compliments before you actually get your question answered.

Woodyoak,

Green shows the presence of chlorophyll. The more green the better able a hosta is to handle shade. A solid green as the picture shows would handle fairly deep shade, bearing in mind that all plants require some sun for photosynthesis.

I have some noids that seem to be very similar in color that do very well in deep shade. I suspect your hosta would as well. Keep in mind that it will be a shade deeper green as it will produce more chlorophyll in deep shade to compensate for having less sun exposure.

Jon

Thanks Jon. I may give it a shot in deeper shade when I cut some chunks out of it next spring. I also have some of the old green ones with the long narrower leaves - would they be a better choice for the deep shade do you think?

Thanks re the garden compliments :-) The shady backyard is our favorite part of the garden (except for the resident mosquitoes!) josephines - painting the shed in those shades of green was one of the best things we've done in the garden I think! When we orginally replaced the ugly old shed that came with the property, the new shed was blue-gray with white trim - nice but I came to see that it was taking too much attention away from the garden - so I had DH repaint the shed in colors I thought would blend in well with the plantings. It took a couple of tries to get the door color right and I think the light trim could be a shade darker but, overall, we're quite pleased with the result.

Hmmm, I think what you have is an opportunity to screen that shed, or frame it, with something that can make it lovely indeed. Like it is part of YOUR space, and the golden path (I love the term, BTW) leads to it. Because, if there IS a path, it must LEAD SOMEWHERE. And the shed is situated where it is an obvious destination. Take advantage of its location, even if it is not yours. There is no fence apparent, so no barrier, and even the doors face your way.

So. Could you take a copy of that picture and draw on it (a la PaintShop) to create an arbor which looks like a frame or an approach to it? Hang a hammock in it, or put two tall urns on either side of it, and introduce two vase shaped hosta to it, or some pink muhly grass or some species of gracefully sprayed tall grass that might give winter interest while the hosta are sleeping through the winter.

Ah. I see that it is YOUR shed. Why did I think it was a NEIGHBORS shed.....where is that one? But it will be a nice destination for YOU, and look like a private studio instead of a shed. Maybe like a guest house. If nothing else, you can mount some battery-operated LED wireless lighting (I just bought 3 Mr.Beams spotlights motion activated, reasonably priced) for our garden. They also come with a feature to come on at dusk/off at dawn, if you have a power supply in your shed, low voltage would be an option for the area around your shed. Just some up lights shining on the sides, or picking out the columns of an arbor or pergola. It will add great depth to your garden. With a positive focal point at night like that, the shapes of the hosta will be revealed in silhouette.

I'm very fond of the golds too. They lend a lot of punch to pathways. And, I like the white annual vincas, maybe the white impatiens which likes shade, can hilight the margins of your pathway as dusk changes to darkness, and you can follow the path back to the house without any lighting at all....which is what I like to do, white flowers bordering a shady path to let the magic of the evening continue without the intrusion of human artifice.

We have different visions of what the shed/backyard could/should be :-)

The neighbour's shed I'm trying to hide with the 'Golden Shadows' and 'Prairie Fire' dogwoods at the fence in the golden path area is the yellow metal one that can be seen in the third picture I posted above.

There is no power line to the shed so no lights are possible - or desirable in my opinion. I never walk the paths at night - too many mosquitoes (and this is a West Nile Virus area...) The shed is directly across from the living room window and is a major focal point for the lounge chair on the back porch too, so the shed and the plantings around it are meant to be attractive from a distance. White and silver are the main colors, other than greens, in the garden because they are very visible from a distance. Cool and serene is the overall objective for the appearance of the garden. The golden path and other plantings under the pines are a sort of 'secret garden' that you don't find unless you follow one of the paths that will lead you to it. Here are some other pictures that might interest you:

The overall layout of the backyard - you should be able to sort out where the golden path is by relating it to the shed. I haven't updated this drawing in a few years so the 'traffic circle' hosta is not showing as it is still part of the bigger bed to the left of the shed in this drawing.
{{gwi:9766}}

A winter view so you can see the path network on the right side of the shed:
{{gwi:54460}}

These pictures are from early June:

Looking out from the living room window (I was not holding the camera level!)
{{gwi:36918}}

From the back porch:

(From the back porch in May:
{{gwi:36921}} )

Looking back at the house from the NW corner of the lawn by the pines - you can see the LR window and porch)

So, while we're still making changes/additions to the plantings, (at some point we're likely to lose the big white ash that shades much of the garden so we've been planting a lot of small ornamental trees that might get big enough to help protect the shade plants when/if the ash dies from EAB) we're really not interested in 'tarting up' the shed. The plantings and the layout of the garden itself are the intended focus, not the shed. I am usually wildly at odds with popular garden trends! :-)

Great information, and a great objective. It will be a lovely view out your windows. In any of those last pictures, can you pinpoint the yellow intrusion on your peaceful scene? Like, can you place it on the drawing? Then I can tell what will help you.

IF the yellow shed is in line with any of your pathways, it will tend to draw the eye toward the shed as a destination. So, visually, you can plant a tree at a bend in that pathway, to keep the eye from registering the yellow shed as being there. Since you are using understory trees to create shade and draw the eye, perhaps such a tree would be sufficient in that area too. So the eye would glide on by the yellow shed.

I wasn't suggesting you "tart up" your garden. I was seeing the front of your shed as having the classic proportions of a Greek temple, and the use of a pergola across there to enhance that impression is classic gardening style.

On another note, a rather humorous one, just how friendly are you with the neighbors who own that yellow shed? Would they accept a gallon of your green paint to camouflage the end of their shed facing you? ;)

Aaaah, Woody. So glad you trundled over here to the Hosta forum to share your beautiful gardens.

I agree the green will do fine in the deep shade. My blues also do well, but seem to grow more slowly in deep shade.

Cynthia

If you look at the picture from the LR window you can see the start of the golden path - and the neighbour's shed.... Can you see the path that starts about 6-8' to the right of the shed? (Look also at the second picture I posted at the top of this thread - that's a closer view of the same area...) You can see the bright yellow-green of some golden forestgrass on the corner and the taller yellow-green of a golden 'Full Moon' Japanese maple. Behind that there is the silvery looking 'Wolf Eyes' dogwood (to tie into the silver of the brunneras on the outside edge). The neighbour's shed is visible to the right of that with the dark vertical of the trunk of one of the neighbour's old spruces. In the third picture at the top of the thread you can see that I have indeed planted the two yellow-green dogwoods in front of the metal shed so that, in time, they should be tall enough to hide - or at least obscure - the shed. In winter it will still be visible because there is not enough light there to grow a good evergreen screen. At some point the pines may shed their lower limbs, allowing for sufficient light to plant a decent-sized golden evergreen to provide winter screening. Someday maybe.....

We have never met the current neighbours in that house - although we do know their little dogs well :-) (the dogs play with ours along the fence and beg for cookie treats!) The people never seem to be around - we've never seen them in the yard so have never talked to them at all.

Hi Cynthia - I hadn't realized you hung out here.... I do have some blue hostas in deeper shade but they are definitely wimpy so I was looking for alternatives. I will have to experiment with the green ones we have!

Beautiful garden. I really enjoy seeing other's designs. You handle grass well. I tried Brunnera once with no luck. I may try it again, its beautiful in your garden.

If I were to plant in full shade (of which I have none), I would go green with a larger plant. It will grow more slowly, so a big chunk with lots of roots.

Beverly

Thanks for that advice Beverly - big chunks I can certainly do!