Someone at work gave me this plant a couple seasons ago. It started in a teeny tiny pot and has done well in my front garden, which faces due east and mainly only gets morning sun. I'd love to get more of these since they seem to do well and require little maintenance. Does anyone know what this is? Is it a hosta? Thanks!

I have that exact plant and I have been told its a hosta, but I am not positive

Thanks! Andy is our resident hosta expert, or more accurately "freak", so hopefully he chimes in. The lady I got this from said that dividing the plant is easy so maybe I'll try that.

Out of curiosity, midnightKBG, where are you located in SE PA? Thanks!

Oh, it's 100% that it's a Hosta. Nice one.

There are over 3000 different hosta cultivars. Your's would be considered a medium-sized, white-margin green hosta. The white-margins look a little wide for "Albomarginata" and a little narrow for "Patriot". Neither is rare - "Albomarginata" is one that you can find at every garden center on Earth, and "Patriot" is a buyer's favorite despite the fact that it's no newcomer anymore. "Patriot" is one of my favorites.

Dividing the plant is incredibly easy, and now is an excellent time to do it. Dig it up carefully and just push a garden spade right through the middle, from the top. Plant both pieces as separate plants and water a bit extra for a couple of weeks. Wait three years and do it again. Repeat until you have no lawn area. Then give the divided Hostas to someone at work. This will start the process again on a new piece of property.

When you plant the divided plants, add plenty (plenty!) of compost or peat moss to the hole. They love it.

andy10917 wrote:Plant both pieces as separate plants and water a bit extra for a couple of weeks. Wait three years and do it again. Repeat until you have no lawn area. Then give the divided Hostas to someone at work. This will start the process again on a new piece of property.

Now I see your plan. One property in 20 years, 20 in 40, 400 in 80, within five hundred years your trained minions will have planted the entire planet with hosta and conquered it!

Shhhhhh!!!!

Seven333, did you just water that mulch or is it THAT DARK normally?

southerncalpal wrote:Seven333, did you just water that mulch or is it THAT DARK normally?

It wasn't watered but it was only put out less than 2 days before the picture was taken so it hasn't had much time to fade. It's the midnight black mulch from Preen, on sale at Lowe's for only $2.50/bag. It can't be used around certain plants due to the pre-m in it, however.

Andy, thanks for the info! I'm a big fan of this plant and will look to get some more. I found some of the other hosta threads and will look into getting some more. I think I have a perfect place picked out for a big, ole Empress Wu!

I'm going to start a thread in the Shade Gardening forum about starting a Hosta Collection. You might want to wait until you read it, because cost and success are related in unusual ways for Hosta. Also, before you get going with Hosta for real, you need to understand a little about Hosta Virus HVX.