Land o' Hostas

Three weeks ago, I noticed that our Hostas had reached their prime, their flowers blooming in a lavender mist all over the yard at the cabin. Apparently one of the women that lived here a few years back was an enthusiast – now these things are everywhere.

Mary has even pulled some of them up and transplanted them back to Alexandria. We’ve also given a few of them to Sally and Dan and other neighbors. They are pretty hardy, shade tolerant plants…and the deer love them.

I found out the hummingbirds also like them, having seen the birds working over the blossoms. I am pretty sure that the hostas are sustaining some carpenter bees, too. One final story, the guy who came out to clean our septic said that copperheads like to hide under them – so far, we haven’t seen any copperheads, I think because the black rat snakes eat them all.

All these hostas got me thinking I should look them up on Wikipedia. Turns out:

• They grow from rhizomes or stolons (under grown connections to parent plants) – we have both happening in the yard;
• There are 3,000 registered and named varieties (I am sure we have at least a half dozen in the yard);
• Past names were the Corfu Lily, Day Lily, and Plantain Lily; and
• They are native to Japan, Korea, and China.
  

The Wikipedia article referred me to the American Hosta Society, where I learned:

• They were first imported and grown in Europe in the late 1700’s. By the mid-1800’s hosta were growing in the United States.
• Also, as they forage in residential communities deer frequently find hostas among their favorites, especially those hostas with the fragrant flowered parents.
  

I know the deer like ours, there are always a couple of plants where the leaves have been eaten completely back to the stems. No problem for us, though – we got plenty!