Top 5 Favorite Little Hostas
‘Sparkler’ might make it to my favorite minis list because of its beautiful colors and unusual habit, but I am not sure it meets the American Hosta Society’s definition of miniature. Available at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens (CSG).
With the latest issue of its journal, the American Hosta Society sent its members a form asking them to vote for their 10 favorite “regular” hostas and 5 favorite minis. In my post Top 10 Favorite Larger Hostas, I showed photos of some of my favorites. Click here to read it. If you are curious, here are my final picks:
1. Blue Mouse Ears
2. Blue Angel
3. Sagae
4. Eye Declare
5. El Nino
6. Crumb Cake
7. Paradise Joyce
8. Praying Hands
9. H. nigrescens
10. Stained Glass
Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas. For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
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‘Little Treasure’ may also be too big to be a mini but would be on my top 10 little hostas list because of its amazing blue color and lovely presentaion. Available at CSG.
When my husband saw my post and my list, he commented that there was a lesson to be learned from it: if you see a hosta you like, buy it because it probably won’t be available next year. There are so many new hostas being introduced every year that many great cultivars are no longer sold. Of my top 10 larger hostas, I was only able to sell 4 this year. That’s why for this post I have once again indicated which little hostas are currently available at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens.
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‘Moon Shadow’ may also be too big to get a vote, but I love its colors. Available at CSG.
So what is the definition of a miniature hosta? The American Hosta Society defines miniature hostas by their leaf size. The leaf blade area, length x width, can be no greater than 6 square inches. Clump spread is irrelevant. That is why ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ heads my larger hosta list: its leaves are too big to qualify as a mini. Here are a few more that are on my favorite little hostas list but don’t make it to the final five:
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‘Appletini’, definitely a “little” and not a mini, has breathtaking spring color and shiny gold leaves through the season. Available at CSG in 2016.
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‘Baby Bunting’s’ leaves look huge here, but they are tiny, cute, and blue in my miniature hosta rock garden. Available at CSG.
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‘Stiletto’s’ long, narrow leaves with wavy edges also make it stand out. Available at CSG.
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‘Faithful Heart’ has such an unusual look. The smooth leaves come out solid gold and gradually develop a distinct green edge over the course of at least a month—very fun. Shown here in my strawberry pot. Available at CSG.
Now for the final five—the hostas that got my vote in the American Hosta Society poll for favorite minis:
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At number five, ‘Twist of Lime’ makes my list because its leaves are beautiful, it is very easy to grow, and it spreads nicely to make a lovely groundcover. Available at CSG.
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At number four, ‘Pixie Vamp’ has everything going for it: great colors, elegant habit, adorable name, and look at those dark mahogany flower stems—a real standout. Unfortunately no longer available but I am searching.
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The photo says it all about number three ‘Dragon Tails’. Wouldn’t a dragon have a tail like that? Absolutely adorable! Available at CSG in 2016.
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You could have predicted that a Mouse Ears hosta would be in my top five. I have chosen ‘Mighty Mouse’ because it is readily available, grows well in pots and the ground, has a really cute name, and epitomizes the Mouse Ears form. Available at CSG.
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I could have chosen so many minis to be in my top five and all the finalists could be number one. It’s like being asked to pick your favorite child. However, I ended the agonizing and picked ‘Cracker Crumbs’ as number one. Its shiny gold leaves with blue-green edges are beautiful, it has a great look both as a specimen and as a groundcover, it’s easy to grow, and it is readily available “in the trade”. None of the other four combine all these characteristics. Available at CSG.
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I hope you have enjoyed my little hosta roundup. If you would like to read more about little hostas, click on any of the following links:
The Mice Have Multiplied Again
New Miniature and Small Hostas for 2014, Part 2
New Miniature and Small Hostas for 2014, Part 1
2013 New Miniature and Small Hostas
Hostas Containers and Companions
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Carolyn
Nursery Happenings: The 2015 Miniature Hosta Availability for mail order and pick up at the nursery is here. Our final big spring sale, featuring miniature hostas and summer and fall blooming shade plants is Saturday, May 30, from 10 am to 3 pm. Customers on our list have gotten an email with all the details. You can sign up to receive emails by sending your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net.
Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a local retail nursery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S., zone 6b/7a. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.
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May 27, 2015 at 10:30 pm
I so enjoy the mini-Hostas. I can’t believe the vast quantity of cultivars! I’ve never purchased a Hosta for my current garden, because we have so many. (I think I remember planting some at my old house long ago.) I simply move them around here if I want a different effect. But I could see adding some minis in pots. Thanks for this round-up of your favorites, Carolyn!
May 28, 2015 at 8:11 am
Beth, I guess I am a hosta addict and appreciate the newer and more selected varieties so I keep adding new kinds. But I can’t keep adding the large hostas because they take up a lot of room. The minis allow me to collect but take up little space. Carolyn
May 28, 2015 at 10:10 am
I love the larger monster hostas, but you are correct, they completely curb your ability to collect. My Blue Angel hostas are about 5 feet across in the front yard, so with another huge variegated hosta and a couple Love Pat there isn’t room to add anything. A couple of weeks ago I was wondering why my garden looked so bare, and then I remembered the hostas.
May 28, 2015 at 1:42 pm
Lisa, I always tell my customers that they have to think of the large hostas as a shrub rather than a perennial and plan the space accordingly. Carolyn
May 28, 2015 at 10:56 am
Some wonderful hostas here Carolyn! In the last few years, I have tried to invest in some special hostas and am really pleased with what they bring to the shade garden.
If you have a sec, check out the woodland garden I have up now. I am sure you will like Jamie’s garden.
May 28, 2015 at 1:40 pm
Jennifer, It is worth buying the more expensive cultivars because many of them perform better in the garden then the run-of-the-mill cheap ones. I will look at your post when I get a moment….in July….just kidding. Carolyn
May 28, 2015 at 11:08 am
I’m definitely saving your recommendations for the next garden. I’d only once tried a mini — it was ‘Bill Dress’s Blue’ and I was surprised at how well it did, especially as it was under salt water for days following Hurricane Sandy. Many of the surrounding plants didn’t survive that bath.
May 28, 2015 at 1:36 pm
Haven’t heard of that one, but there are a lot of hostas out there. Surprised it survived the salt. Carolyn
May 28, 2015 at 2:15 pm
Me too… every one of the acid-loving plants (rhodies, azaleas, enkianthus, and heathers) in that same area died.
May 28, 2015 at 11:51 am
I didn’t know, “The leaf blade area, length x width, can be no greater than 6 square inches.” So many are sold as a miniature and they are larger than that. I hope you boys don’t read that hosta are like picking a favorite child! 😀
May 28, 2015 at 1:35 pm
Donna, Haha, I don’t have a favorite child or really a favoite mini hosta. Yes, it is confusing. Customers think that if it’s mini then the patch will be really small but some of the hostas with mini leaves create a good-sized patch. Carolyn
May 28, 2015 at 3:01 pm
I know! Just joking, but I should pick one right? I might choose Appletini for that cool color.
May 28, 2015 at 3:16 pm
Good choice.
May 31, 2015 at 1:53 pm
I have had to redo my hosta area and I am thinking where I can add some more of these cuties….once I have the area redone, I hope to get a few more for my collection…..especially love Dragon Tails.
May 31, 2015 at 2:50 pm
Donna, Sounds like an opportunity. Dragon Tails is adorable. Carolyn
June 18, 2015 at 8:20 am
It is rather sad that many good cultivars are crowded out by new introductions isn’t it? Many of the new introductions seem to cone and go. Your hubby is right. It you see something you like, you have to grab it.
You have showcased some nice hostas. I like Stiletto particularly. Spear-shaped hosta are still somewhat lacking in my garden.
June 19, 2015 at 1:50 pm
Jennifer, It is like that with many plants in the horticultural world but I find it particularly prevalent with hostas and hellebores. Carolyn