I found this book at the library a couple of days ago, and brought it home. It discussed in one section how to have HOSTA in a southern garden.

The author is Jo Kelllum, a member of ASLA, a landscape architect who lives in an "upper zone 8 garden area" ....It was published by U. Press of Mississippi in Jackson MS, which might indicate her location somewhat. She was also a past garden design editor with Southern Living magazine. The lady is pretty smart too, because she recommends the HostaLibrary to view more pictures!

I recommend that you too try to find it at YOUR public library, and at least read the HOSTA section from pages 25 to 30. It also gives other plants which could be happy companions to hosta, if you're interested in that. The entire book is 144 pages long, well illustrated, nice paper quality.

What grabbed me right off the bat, was the first sentence of this section about HOSTA:

"Don't believe the nay-sayers who claim that hostas can't be grown in the South. We can grow hostas in the South."

She names names, and begins with the plantaginea family, of course. Then I think she loves ventricosa, and recommends leaving the flowers on those because they self sow to multiply the lushness of the hosta effect. For ventricosa 'Aureomarginata' she says no seeds but the variegation gives more color to the garden. Her emphasis is on those hosta with low dormancy requirements, to go beyond the fragrant family which is tops.....and includes others like S&S, Abba Dabba Do, Squash Casserole, Lancifolia, August Moon, Gold Edger, Golden Tiara, Diamond Tiara, Enterprise, Sundance, Captain Kirk, Gold Standard, and Revolution. Not a definitive list, but it is a good beginning for southerners who wish to make a success of hosta gardening.

Of course, she says no afternoon sun, lots of water and no alkalinity and then very good drainage. Even with morning sun, she likes it with dappled shade. She recommends leaving the blues alone since their wax melts so easily. If you want more color, go with the creams and white margins and the golds/yellows, because the lighter leaves and also the more substanced leaves can endure the temps and the insects better. Make out your shopping list ahead of time. Do not be led astray by local nurseries who bring in varieties not necessarily good for our warmer areas and our more deadly afternoon sun. She also pointed out that minis don't do well with us because the roots do not go down far enough to avoid the warmer soil which can kill their smaller root systems.

I enjoy a good gardening book which seems very practical and up to date. Don't know if pictures are of HER garden or not, but I'm becoming more aware of hosta in garden photos, even if unidentified..

This winter, if you run across a good book about gardening that includes discussion of hosta, bring it to our attention. It will help us make it through the cold days of hosta withdrawals.

Happy Thanksgiving all!