It was “Hosta of the Year” in 2008. This hosta maintains a diminutive size and is perfect for edging along a woodland path or potted and used for accents around a garden. This plant has a thick leaf which helps prevent attacks from slugs and snails. Due to their smaller size, they work very well in pots and along path edges. Of course, with pots the tendency is to dry out quicker, so make sure they are regularly watered. The bloom is equally petite and beautiful. Light purple to lavender colour flowers bloom on the tops of racemes or stalks that come out of the central part of the plant. The flowers are grouped in bunches and provide a unique contrast with the deep shades of the rounded-oval leaves. These plants grow from a central clump and the leaves spread out to provide a dense, shaded groundcover. Because of this, they are very good to use in border areas to control weed growth. Hostas can be divided every two to four years in order to thin or transplant. Dividing the plants helps to encourage more vigorous growth and allows the plants an appropriate amount of space to fully develop. They are relatively disease-free. However, slugs and snails are pests that are attracted to the plants and also appreciate the groundcover hostas offer. A suggested organic method to deal with these pests, is to this is spray a nematoid-filled solution on the soil around the hostas. These worm-like creatures will organically dispose of these pests.
