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Features
This hosta forms large clumps of wavy-edged, grey/blue leaves which are up to 40cm long, from spring to late summer. The white, bell-shaped, summer flower spikes extend the height of the plant up to 1m.
What to use it for
Hostas are good for beds and borders, including for ground cover and edging. They work well for underplanting trees and large shrubs, trees with deep roots (eg oaks) in particular. Hostas may be planted in containers and are useful for flower arranging, thanks to the tall stems bearing the flowers. The striking foliage works well with both informal, cottage style planting schemes and in more formal or modern design gardens.
How to look after it
Mulch well in the spring, ideally with leaf mould. Over the hotter months the soil should be kept moist, though not wet, although hostas can survive short periods of drought thanks to their roots retaining water.
How to prune it
Remove any spent foliage and cut the dead foliage back down at the end of the season. Some growers prefer to remove the flower stalks as they develop so they don’t detract attention from the foliage.
How to propagate it
Can be propagated by division, but newly planted plants should be left undisturbed for around 5 years before dividing. Division can then be done a maximum of once every five years. Divide your hosta in spring, breaking dense clumps apart with a spade, looser ones by hand, into single buds if required (so long as each has some roots attached). Soak the roots of the divided plants for one minute before re-planting in pots or a nursery bed, to minimise the transplantation shock. Divided single buds can be ‘topped’ to encourage more shoots to grow, forming a larger crown. To ‘top’ the buds, scrape the soil away from the base of the bud in spring, as it begins to grow, and wipe the base clean. Then make a small, vertical cut, through the base of the shoot (where the crown is forming) and apply hormone rooting compound before re-covering the crown and watering well.
Seeds can also be collected in autumn from the ripe fruits (legumes) and sown at 15°C, then grown on in a cold frame (in fact, most hostas tend to self-seed freely). The resulting plants should flower in 2 to 3 years. As this is a cultivar it won’t come true from seed, but you may find some interesting and pleasing variations occur.
Common problems
Slugs and snails are the main enemy of hostas, gorging themselves on the luscious leaves. Rabbits and deer can also be a problem, as can vine weevils and leaf eelworms. ‘Hosta virus X’ is increasingly becoming a problem.
Other useful information
Hostas were first brought to Europe from Asia in the 1800s and arrived in the USA shortly afterwards. The genus Hosta was named after Austrian botanist Nicholas Thomas Host (1761 – 1834).
This hosta has been given the Award of Garden Merit by the RHS. The cultivar name ‘Blue Angel’ is sometimes, incorrectly, used to mean H. sieboldiana var. elegans.
