CAROLYN&#039;S SHADE GARDENS

New Miniature and Small Hostas for 2014, Part 2

‘Mini Skirt’ is one of the newer mouse ears with a lovely flounce to the leaves.

I thought I would show you some new photos of the mouse ears I am offering this year and introduce two new mouse ears for 2017. Although ‘Frosted Mouse Ears’ and ‘Sunny Mouse Ears’ are in the 2016 mail order catalogue, they are already sold out so I won’t tempt you with their photos.

. Hosta 'Green Mouse Ears'

‘Green Mouse Ears’, a favorite of mine, is the tiniest of the group.

‘Pure Heart’ makes a pair with ‘Mighty Mouse’ as it was named after Pearl Pureheart, Mighty Mouse’s girlfriend.

Hosta 'Mouse Cheese'

‘Mouse Cheese’ is one of the gold-leafed mouse ears—it comes out chartreuse and turns gold over the spring season.

Hosta 'Church Mouse'

‘Church Mouse’ has the most interesting leaves. The center is smooth and blue-green, while the edges are ruffled and gold-green.

‘Mighty Mouse’ in the spring and summer.

This is a photo of ‘Mighty Mouse’ in the fall.

Hosta 'Holy Mouse Ears'

‘Holy Mouse Ears’ is another tiny cultivar with beautiful colors.

Two new cultivars are joining the mouse ears clan in 2017. They look stunning, and I already have them on order to sell in spring 2017:

‘Sun Mouse’ has nicely shaped round leaves and brilliant gold color.

Hosta 'School Mouse' Walters

‘School Mouse’ resembles its parent ‘Church Mouse’ but with a wide, gold, ruffled edge and blue-green center.

The Mouse Ears Family continues to grow, but there is always room in my garden for these wonderful little hostas.

Carolyn

Nursery Happenings: You can sign up to receive catalogues and emails about nursery events by sending your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net. Subscribing to my blog does not sign you up to receive this information.

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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Top 5 Favorite Little Hostas

Posted in container gardening, containers for shade, hosta, miniature hosta with tags American Hosta Society, American Hosta Society poll, Carolyn's Shade Gardens, dwarf hostas, Hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears', Hosta 'Cracker Crumbs', Hosta 'Mighty Mouse', Hosta 'Pixie Vamp', Hosta 'Sparkler', Hosta 'Twist of Lime', Hosta Appletini, Hosta Baby Bunting, Hosta Dragon Tails, Hosta Faithful Heart, Hosta Little Treasure, Hosta Moon Shadow, Hosta Stiletto, little hostas, Mighty Mouse, mini hostas, mini hostas for sale, miniature hosta, miniature hosta mail order, miniature hostas, Mouse Ears, mouse ears hostas, small hostas on May 27, 2015 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

‘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

‘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.

‘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:

‘Appletini’, definitely a “little” and not a mini, has breathtaking spring color and shiny gold leaves through the season. Available at CSG in 2016.

‘Baby Bunting’s’ leaves look huge here, but they are tiny, cute, and blue in my miniature hosta rock garden. Available at CSG.

‘Stiletto’s’ long, narrow leaves with wavy edges also make it stand out. Available at CSG.

‘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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 1

New Miniature and Small Hostas for 2014, Part 2

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.

If you are within visiting distance and would like to receive catalogues and information about customer events, please send your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net. Subscribing to my blog does not sign you up to receive this information.

17 Comments »

The Mice Have Multiplied Again

Posted in container gardening, containers for shade, hosta, miniature hosta with tags Carolyn's Shade Gardens, dwarf hostas, Hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears', Hosta 'Green Mouse Ears', Hosta 'Holy Mouse Ears', Hosta 'Mighty Mouse', Hosta Desert Mouse, Hosta Funny Mouse, Hosta Giantland Mouse Cheese, Hosta Giantland Sunny Mouse Ears, Hosta Lucky Mouse, Hosta Mini Skirt, Hosta Mouse Cheese, Hosta Pure Heart, Hosta Sunny Mouse Ears, little hostas, Mighty Mouse, mini hostas, mini hostas for sale, miniature hosta, miniature hosta mail order, miniature hostas, Mouse Ears, mouse ears hostas, New Mice, small hostas on May 20, 2015 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

My Mouse Ears Hosta collection in pots, back row left to right: ‘Mighty Mouse’, ‘Mini Skirt’, ‘Mouse Cheese’, ‘Lucky Mouse’, front row left to right: ‘Green Mouse Ears’, ‘Pure Heart’, ‘Desert Mouse’, ‘Funny Mouse’.

Our 2016 Miniature Hosta Catalogue is now on line, click here. It lists all the wonderful little hostas that are available for pick up at the nursery and by mail. Local customers are encouraged to pre-order.

I love Mouse Ears miniature and small hostas. I like them because they are cute, they have a look all their own, they have adorable names, their colors are beautiful, I would actually grow them for their flowers, and their thick leaves give them a unique presence and repel slugs. There are two new Mouse Ears this year: ‘Mini Skirt’ and ‘Pure Heart’, but I am also including photos of other members of this captivating family of hostas.

Newly introduced ‘Mini Skirt’ has the same variegation as ‘Mighty Mouse’ but with heavily ruffled leaves—stunning and already a customer favorite!

Newly introduced ‘Pure Heart’ has the reverse variegation of ‘Mighty Mouse’. This tiny Mouse Ears hosta is named after Pearl Pureheart, Mighty Mouse’s cartoon girlfriend.

‘Mighty Mouse’ is still one of the best Mouse Ears both in the ground and in a pot.

‘Mighty Mouse’ in my miniature hosta rock garden. I hope you can stop by this weekend and see all the minis growing there.

‘Blue Mouse Ears’ started it all and is still the best of the bunch if you are just getting into Mouse Ears. It is much larger than the other Mouse Ears and is not considered a mini 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.

Another photo of ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ highlighting the silver edging on the almost perfectly round leaves.

‘Mouse Cheese’ has the look of ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ with thick round leaves and lovely proportionate flowers but starts out chartreuse and turns more and more gold throughout the season.

‘Green Mouse Ears’ has really taken off this year in a pot. Always one of my favorites because of its ultra thick leaves, its bright green color is a nice contrast to the other Mouse Ears.

‘Holy Mouse Ears’ is slow growing but remains one of my favorites.

Like ‘Mouse Cheese’, ‘Sunny Mouse Ears’ changes from chartruese to gold over the course of the season, but it has rounder, tinier leaves.

That’s it for my Mouse Ears update. If you would like to read more about little hostas, click on any of the following links:

New Miniature and Small Hostas for 2014, Part 1

New Miniature and Small Hostas for 2014, Part 1

Carolyn

Nursery Happenings: The 2014 Miniature Hosta Availability for mail order and pick up at the nursery is here. Our next open hours are Saturday, May 31, from 10 am to 2 pm. Our final big spring sale, featuring miniature hostas and summer and fall blooming shade plants is Saturday, June 7, 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 7a. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.

17 Comments »

New Miniature and Small Hostas for 2014, Part 2

Posted in container gardening, containers for shade, hosta, miniature hosta with tags Carolyn's Shade Gardens, dwarf hostas, Hosta 'Chartreuse Wiggles', Hosta 'Feather Boa', Hosta 'Lemon Frost', Hosta 'Neutrino', Hosta 'Thumbelina', little hostas, mini hostas, mini hostas for sale, miniature hosta, miniature hosta mail order, miniature hostas, Mouse Ears, mouse ears hostas, New Mice, small hostas on May 26, 2014 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Clockwise from upper left: flowers of ‘Lemon Frost’, ‘Neutrino’, ‘Chartreuse Wiggles’, ‘Thumbelina’, and ‘Feather Boa’.

My last post called New Miniature and Small Hostas for 2014 highlighted four new additions to our extensive offerings of miniature hostas. In that post I talked about ‘Alakazaam’, ‘Baby Booties’, ‘Cherish’, and ‘Kiwi Golden Thimble’. To see the photos and descriptions, click here. This post will add five more profiles of cute little hostas that you will want to add to your containers and gardens.

‘Feather Boa’ is extremely useful because it grows rapidly to form a dense groundcover of bright gold leaves. It is 11″ tall by 27″ wide, and its leaves are 3 3/4″ long by 2″ wide. The narrow gold foliage with very wavy margins is topped by attractive purple flowers in July.

‘Thumbelina’ departs from the usual color scheme to give us a very cute bright green and gold mini with wavy, heart-shaped leaves and a wide yellow margin . It is 10″ tall by 24″ wide, and its leaves are 4″ long by 3″ wide. It has medium purple flowers in July and forms a small, dense rounded mound, great specimen!

‘Chartreuse Wiggles has glossy, bright gold, very narrow and heavily rippled leaves that really stand out in the garden. It is 10″ high by 25″ wide, and its leaves are 5 1/2″ long by 1″ wide. Pale purple flowers appear in August. It forms a low dense mound, making an excellent specimen, edger, or groundcover.

‘Neutrino’ is another mini hosta that really stands out. The bright green, pointy leaves have a wide white margin that streaks into the center. It forms a 5″ tall by 16″ wide neat but dense mound. Its leaves are 2 3/4″ long by 1 3/4″ wide topped by medium purple flowers in July. It is a tiny plant, a seedling of H. venusta.

‘Lemon Frost’ features a very unusual color combination of light chartreuse leaves with a pure white margin. It is 10″ tall by 24″ wide, and its leaves are 3 1/2″ long by 1 1/2″ wide. The gorgeous, dark purple striped flowers appear in July (next photo). It is very fast growing and useful as a variegated ground cover or edging plant.

The buds of ‘Lemon Frost’ are a desirable dark purple, and the flowers are striped—a hosta I would grow for its flowers!

There may be a third post in this series with a few more new additions. Meanwhile, if you would like to read more about little hostas, click on any of the following links:

Carolyn

Nursery Happenings: The 2015 Miniature Hosta Availability for mail order and pick up at the nursery is here. 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 7a. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.

15 Comments »

New Miniature and Small Hostas for 2014

Posted in container gardening, containers for shade, hosta, miniature hosta with tags Carolyn's Shade Gardens, dwarf hostas, Hosta ''Alakazaam', Hosta Baby Booties, Hosta Cherish, Hosta Kiwi Golden Thimble, little hostas, mini hostas, mini hostas for sale, miniature hosta, miniature hosta mail order, miniature hostas, Mouse Ears, mouse ears hostas, New Mice, small hostas on May 22, 2014 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

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.

Clockwise from upper left: ‘Lemon Frost’, ‘Alakazaam’, ‘Baby Booties’, ‘Neutrino’, ‘Kiwi Golden Thimble’, ‘Curly Fries’, ‘Thumbelina’, and ‘Cherish’.

My last post called New Mice for 2014 profiled the new additions to the adorable Mouse Ears Series of miniature hostas. In that post I talked about ‘Sunny Mouse Ears’, ‘Mouse Cheese’, ‘Ruffled Mouse Ears’, and ‘Church Mouse’. To see the photos and descriptions, click here. I extolled the virtues of their round, rubbery slug-repelling leaves in beautiful colors, their symmetrical habit, and their lovely proportional flowers.

‘Alakazaam’ planted in the knot hole of a tree.

I have added a lot of new miniature and small hostas that are not mice to my offerings, and I want to profile a few of them here. But first I would like to answer the question what is 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. Therefore, some of the hostas listed below are not technically “miniature”, but they are all little!

‘Alakazaam’s’ unusual spiky habit makes it stand out from the crowd no matter where you place it. It forms a clump 5″ tall by 10″ wide, and its leaves are 6 1/2″ long and 3/4″ wide. They are bright green with gold ruffled margins changing to creamy white.

‘Baby Booties’ departs from the usual gold and blue color scheme to give us a very cute green and white mini with oval leaves and a wide creamy white margin . It forms a 5″ tall by 19″ wide compact mound, and its oval leaves are 2 3/4″ long by 1 3/8″ wide.

‘Cherish’ is an adorable tiny hosta, “child” of the wonderful ‘Baby Bunting’, with heart-shaped creamy yellow leaves and a wide blue margin streaking into the center. It has pixie-like, tiny flowers that are coming into bloom right now. It is 8″ tall by 12″ wide, and its leaves are 2 1/2 ” long by 1 1/2″ wide. It needs more sun due to its extensive variegation.

‘Kiwi Golden Thimble’ is my most popular new mini hosta. Its unusual gold color and narrow, cupped leaves really stand out. Plus it rapidly produces an adorable mound of golden foliage. It is 5″ tall by 18″ wide, and its leaves are 2 3/4″ long by 1 1/4″ wide.

Look for another post on four more new additions. If you would like to read more about little hostas, click on any of the following links:

Carolyn

Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a local retail nursery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S., zone 7a. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.

18 Comments »

New Mice for 2014

Posted in container gardening, containers for shade, hosta, miniature hosta with tags Carolyn's Shade Gardens, dwarf hostas, Hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears', Hosta Church Mouse, Hosta Giantland Mouse Cheese, Hosta Giantland Sunny Mouse Ears, Hosta Mouse Cheese, Hosta Ruffled Mouse Ears, Hosta Sunny Mouse Ears, little hostas, mini hostas, mini hostas for sale, miniature hosta, miniature hosta mail order, miniature hostas, Mouse Ears, mouse ears hostas, small hostas on May 5, 2014 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Clockwise from upper left: ‘Holy Mouse Ears’, ‘Frosted Mouse Ears’, ‘Blue Mouse Ears’, ‘Green Mouse Ears’, and ‘Mighty Mouse’.

In 2012, I wrote a very popular post called I Love Mice about little hostas in the Mouse Ears Series. In that post I talked about ‘Holy Mouse Ears’, ‘Frosted Mouse Ears’, ‘Green Mouse Ears’, ‘Mighty Mouse’, and the little hosta that started it all, ‘Blue Mouse Ears’. I extolled the virtues of their round, rubbery slug-repelling leaves in beautiful colors, their symmetrical habit, and their lovely proportional flowers. Since then some new mice have arrived on the seen, and I want to introduce them to you.

‘Sunny Mouse Ears’ is tiny and adorable in a new color for mouse ears minis.

It was just a matter of time before someone selected a gold-leafed mouse ears hosta, and ‘Sunny Mouse Ears’ is it. It has tiny, perfectly round leaves 1 3/4″ long by 1 3/4″ wide. It forms a mound 3″ tall by 10″ wide. ‘Sunny Mouse Ears’ is the first gold-leafed cultivar in the Mouse Ears series, although there is another described below. It has the same thick substance that repels slugs and the same enchanting, pixie-like pale purple flowers in July as the rest of the mouse ears clan.

Hosta ‘Ruffled Mouse Ears’ in the foreground contrasts nicely with the rounded shape of most of the other mouse ears hostas, here ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ in the background.

A close up of ‘Ruffled Mouse Ears’

‘Ruffled Mouse Ears’ is another new addition to the group. It has blue-green leaves 2 3/4″ long by 2 1/2″ wide with highly ruffled margins. Although it has the same rounded, thick, rubbery, slug resistant leaves as its parent ‘Blue Mouse Ears’, its rippled and frilled margins provide a great contrast to the other mouse ears hostas. ‘Ruffled Mouse Ears’ forms a mound 6″ high by 14″ wide and has the same desirable flowers.

‘Mouse Cheese’ is definitely a clever name for this gold-leafed mouse ears hosta.

‘Mouse Cheese’ is the other new gold-leafed mouse ears hosta available this year. At 2 3/4″long by 2 1/2″ wide, its leaves are larger and not as round, but they are bright gold with the same thick texture as the other mice we have come to love. ‘Mouse Cheese’ forms a slightly larger mound 4″ tall and 12″ wide. It has very cute pale purple flowers in July and retains its gold leaf color all season.

The texture of Hosta ‘Church Mouse’ stands out in a mixed planting. Photo courtesy of Walters Gardens.

‘Church Mouse’, the last of the four new mouse ears hostas, has very blue leaves with unique, highly ruffled margins that make a good contrast with other mouse ears hostas. It has the same thick substance that repels slugs and adorable, well-proportioned lavender flowers in early summer. It forms a larger mound 8″ tall by 15″ wide, but has the same neat and symmetrical habit.

A close up of ‘Church Mouse’, photo courtesy of Walters Gardens.

If you would like to read more about little hostas, click on any of the following links: