Recommend me a hosta!

[maamalady]

I have recently moved house and have a rather empty garden to populate. It's south facing but has a tall rear fence and backs on to woodland so the rear border is very shady. There were several enormous shrubs that had been ignored for years, which we took out when we moved in the autumn, so it really is empty. Well, except for the small flowering cherry which was totally hidden in the bushes!

I'm planning on planting hostas in the corner under and around the cherry, so they'll be in full to part shade. What sun that area gets is in the afternoon/evening, so I'm hoping hostas do well. Previous gardens have always been too sunny/dry/infested with slugs to even try, but I've always wanted to have some!

So - do you think hostas are a good choice, and can you suggest some good easy ones? I particularly like the blue ones, but as it's a fairly dark corner perhaps a variegated one would give a bit of contrast. I'm not too fond of the yellower leaves though.

Thank you :)

Hosta sieboldiana Elegans is a beautiful blue with puckered leaves and with more colour to light up a shady area Hosta sieboldiana Francis Williams.
Good sizes, relativley easy, plant in mass in groups of 5 or 7.
Work organic matter into the soil before planting and mulch afterwards with wood chip or similar.
They combine well with maybe a backdrop of Hydrangers.

Hosta 'Halcyon' would be another excellent blue for a shady situation.

I love the really big, blue ones, like 'Blue Angel' and 'Big Daddy'. I had to be forcibly restrained from buying one of the former on Sunday. But I am also swayed by 'Fragrant blue' because of that additional quality of perfume (they do smell lovely).

I grow my hostas in pots because of slugs - it really helps. I have got some dish-shaped ones that work much better than taller thinner ones. Keeping them watered is important, because it's when they get stressed that they get torn to shreds.

If you want white, there is a beautiful hosta called 'white feather'. I've got a couple and they are just perfect - they come up absolutely white, with green veins, looking a bit other-worldly, like they have been forced. It is a spectacular effect, especially when co-planted with ferns that are unfolding this time of year (check out Matteuccia struthiopteris as a pairing!)

El Nino keeps falling into my basket...

Oh, I really like Halcyon and Big Daddy! Also White Feather is stunning, I may well stick that in somewhere - especially as I'm planting ferns a bit further along so it's great to have a combination to think about. Thank you all! :)

White feather looks stunning. There are lots of pretty shade loving plants and climbers you could mix in. Loads of inspiration on Pinterest if you fancied looking.