Tuesday, April 10, 2012

A Gift: Halcyon Hosta

My sister, who also is my best friend, gave me a gift Sunday: a Halcyon Hosta plant! How special is that? She is an expert gardener, and hostas and hydrageas are her special interest. She had told me ever since I started my blog a couple of months ago that I must have a Halcyon Hosta.

What a great gift! I decided to plant it in a pot instead of the ground, as she thinks hostas do beautifully in pots. I have a few Hostas. She has hundreds! One day very soon I'm going to feature her beautiful garden in one of my posts.



Here's what I read about the plant:


'Halcyon' Hosta is an old favorite mid-sized, blue leaved hosta. It is easy to tell why, when you see the heavily ribbed thick blue leaves. Its medium size and intense blue leaf makes it a great container plant in combination with other plants or on its own. Violet flowers appear in mid- summer. This variety has excellent color and growth rate.

One of the best and most popular of the blue hosta cultivars. An erect plant to 14" tall featuring a mound of flat, spear-shaped, heavily-textured, blue-green leaves and racemes of bell-shaped, pale lilac-blue flowers on 26" scapes. This cultivar retains blue leaf color longer than most other blue hostas. A slower growing hosta (takes several years to develop mature shape) that is a dependable and versatile perennial requiring little care. Grown primarily for its beautiful foliage which provides color, contrast and texture to the landscape. Dense foliage crowds out most garden weeds. American Hosta Society Distinguished Merit Hosta award (1987).




You can see the water clinging to the leaves. Isn't it beautiful? I might have to have an entire flower bed filled with these beauties.

And here's what a full bed of them would look like:

I like the part above that says a full bed of them would smother out weeds!


Thank you, Sissy. You are the best sister, and friend, ever. I am so sorry you are not feeling well tonight. Please be well soon!

7 comments:

  1. Now this is a plant I like. No weeding needed; )
    We have wild Lily of the Valley´s- masses of them, covering the hills.
    They too hide the undergrowth well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lily-of-the-Valley is a favorite. And they smell so nice!

      Delete
  2. What a beautiful gift from your sister ( as an only child always wished for a sister) you sound to have a loving relationship.

    Agree that the Hostas' do better up off the ground,they are one of the slugs favourite foods! In my last garden had loads of them in the woodland garden even with the slug attacks they looked good,like the plain ones mixed with the variegated plants,the flowers are the bonus.

    Hope your sister feels better soon. Ida

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are very, very close. Sisters are the best. Ida, you mention growing so many beautiful plants. English gardens are always lovely because you get so much rain--and of course, you are all expert gardeners! I visited once to see all the tourist/historical sites. Next time I want to do a garden tour.

      Delete
  3. One of my favorite room paint colors is by a speciality paint company in the Northwest and is called Hosta. By the looks of that plant, it is aptly named. What a beautiful plant. I have seen comments left by your sister and she seems so lovely. You are lucky to have her as a best friend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lucky indeed. So many common interests. The hosta was a great gift!

      Delete
  4. Enjoyed all the extra info on the plant. I don't always take the time to "read up" on everything - just see a plant and dig in!
    To all who read my comments, my sister is a very deserving, wonderful sister and friend. We are very close and share so many common interests. Can't imagine life without her. She is on vacation now and I'm happy for her - however, I'll be glad when she returns!

    ReplyDelete