Large Hosta by WxMom
TheGardenLady is a big fan of hostas in the garden. They add such pizazz to any garden landscape. Mine are planted around trees to decorate the feet of the trees for a finishing touch. So in my garden, instead of just seeing a mound of mulch at the bottom of the trees, you see a sort of wreath of hostas that have pushed through the mulch. I think this adds such a pretty touch to the garden picture. If you want to buy hostas for your garden and are in the Philadelphia area on Saturday, May 15th, you should definitely visit Carolyn’s Shade Garden in Bryn Mawr.
Carolyns Shade Garden is having the third open house this Saturday, May 15, from 10 to 3, rain or shine, directions attached (checks and cash only). The display gardens are beautiful and full of great ideas, and the nursery has a huge selection of plants.
Appointment: Feel free to schedule an appointment during this week or next week if you can’t make it on Saturday. There seems to be a misconception that appointments are unusual. In fact, Carolyn does over half her business by appointment. Of course, if you only want a small amount of plants, the open houses are recommended.
Parking: For the convenience of my neighbors, please observe the no parking signs on Robinhood Rd and do not block mailboxes or turn around in driveways.
As promised, this is the best open house for hosta, ferns (10 varieties), and hardy geraniums, including hard-to-find and extremely desirable ‘Rozanne’.
There is also a great selection of phlox, foamflowers, bleeding-hearts, columbines, corydalis, lamium, pulmonaria, and, of course, hellebores (including the Lady Series, the Immanence Collection, and Christmas Rose ‘Jacob’). Japanese primroses and yellow corydalis are also ready.
Carolyn has some beautiful summer and fall-blooming shade plants, including white hardy begonia, ligularias, turtlehead, cardinal flower, great blue lobelia, Japanese anemone (six varieties), and yellow waxbells (Kirengoshoma).
A Word about Hostas: Carolyn has a great selection of hostas this year, including several varieties that she developed herself. She highly recommends that you walk around the gardens and look at the hostas in the landscape before choosing the type you want. Big-leaf hostas look totally different in a pot and often don’t develop their true leaf shape and gorgeous colors until they have been in the ground for a year. Smaller hostas cannot adequately portray their distinct habits in a pot.
When selecting hostas for your garden, you can’t go wrong by selecting a winner of the coveted Hosta of the Year Award from the American Hosta Growers Association. This award means a lot–only 15 hostas have received it out of the over 6,000 cultivars out there. I offer 1998 ‘Fragrant Bouquet’, 1999 ‘Paul’s Glory’, 2000 ‘Sagae’, 2001 ‘June’, 2002 ‘Guacamole’, 2008 ‘Blue Mouse Ears’, 2009 ‘Earth Angel’, and 2011 ‘Praying Hands’. Click here for gorgeous photographs:
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