Advice: Small Hosta that can handle sun?

[thehostagourmetgirl]

Hi everyone. I am George Donsky's daughter, Jessica. My dad passed away a year ago this April 22. I want to put together a pretty planter for his grave but it is a full sun area. I have a few hostas at my house that get lots of sun and do fine, but they are large plants.

Can anyone recommend a hosta or two that are small - tiny, even - that can survive the sun in a planter? I can try to shade them with a larger, sun-loving plant in the center of the planter. If there is no such thing, that's ok. Just thought I'd ask.

I'm eagerly awaiting my hostas to break through here in Mass. It's been a cold spring - last year at this time they were big and had leaves! In fact, my last conversation with my dad was about transplanting a hosta and I remember digging it up - it was already huge.

As my hostas pop up I'm sure I'll be here with questions since my main source of info was my dad. Hope everyone is well. Thanks, Jessica

[viktoria]

'Little Aurora' comes to mind. Also, the fragrant-flowered hostas tend to be the most sun-tolerant, but are mostly medium to large in size. There is, however, an exception: 'Sugar Babe'.

Viktoria

[ViolaAnn]

The question comes to my mind about water. Do you live in an area with sufficient rain that the plants in a container will do well w/o constant watering? Hostas like a lot of moisture.

[jgh]

Glad to see you posting - I'm sure I speak for many of us when I say I miss your dad...

I'd worry about moisture and sunlight - so I'd put a container into a container or something like that to create a water reservoir under the roots --- unless this is an area that gets watered regularly.

I'd try some inexpensive ones, so if they turn out to be "annuals." One family that is relatively small in the Lemon-Lime clan. They tend to handle quite a bit of sun in my zone 4 garden - and you get quite a range of similar shaped but different colored hostas to play with. LL is chartreuse-yellow, Lemon Delight is green w/yellow margin, Twist of Lime is yellow/thin green margin, Iced Lemon and Lemon Frost are yellow/white, tending to turn more lime green as the season goes along. These are good growers... tough... and popular. Two of them, LL and I forget which sport made the AHS popularity list for small hostas...

Also, Shiny Penny is a seedling from LL... cute, yellow... and it has a vigorous sport that is yellow with a green margin called Cracker Crumbs... both of these tolerate some hot midday sun in my raised beds...

One more... Kifukurin Ko Mame is probably my favorite mini... it is somewhat rhizomatous, so it tends to fill a space more than form a neat clump - but I've got one in a smallish pocket in a south facing rock garden and it seems to love it there, even though the spotshould be too warm for hosta roots and too dry and too sunny...

Sure wish we could ask George this question!

[thy]

Little Aurora and Lemon Lime (and family ) was what I was thinking too, the add Tortifrons for a green or an other green mini.
They will all do fine if you plant them with some grit in the planter or maybe in grit only... grit do get dry at the outside very fast, but in side it keeps moisture very well, then add water crystals or put a part of a diper in the buttum (sp O/U ?)
and then give it some long time fertilizer

<nice to see you

[flowerchild59]

I don't know how small is your planter, but clausa is pretty sun resistant for me here and is rhizamatous too. Purple lady fingers have closed purple blossoms and do well for me here in the sunnier parts of the bed.

[ViolaAnn]

jgh - Kifukurin Ko Mame is one of my favourites as well. Makes a wonderful edger and, at least in Canada, it's almost impossible to find in nurseries any more. (For Canadian friends, I have divisions I can sell and the proceeds are going to my church building fund). I had never thought about it's being rhizomatous as it's still easy to control.

clausa, OTOH, is rampantly rhizomatous if it likes the spot. It can get out of control; so I've planted it in places where nothing else grows.

thy and jgh, I second the nomination of the Lemon-Lime clan.

Ann

[jgh]

Jessica - check your private messages...

[Linda P]

Jessica,
It's good to see you posting. I was thinking that you could probably use Venusta for a solid green. It doesn't seem to be bothered by much of
anything. If you can keep an eye on the container and water, they would probably do okay for at least the earlier part of the summer.
I have a self-watering container that I put at my parent's grave for Memorial day, and usually only leave it out there for a few weeks. Once it
gets past the end of June, everything, even the full sun plants, start to burn.
There are some good ideas here...hope you find something that works for you.

Linda P

[thehostagourmetgirl]

Thank you everyone! It's been a busy week and I'll think about all of your suggestions this weekend. I'll post more later - just wanted to say thanks.

[thehostagourmetgirl]

jgh - I tried to send you a message back but it's still in my outbox - did you get it?

[jgh]

just read it and replied... tag - you're it!

[largosmom]

I'm so sorry for your loss of your father, I don't know of him, but I think your idea is wonderful. Not sure what size container you were considering, but perhaps you can trade watering help with someone else who visits a family member regularly where your father will rest. Earthboxes have a good sized water reservoir and you may be able to make your own similarly capable box out of a normal container if you see how they are constructed. The idea to put the box at your dad's gravesite during cooler times of the year is also a good one. Perhaps you can rotate a container of sedums or similar plant during the warmer months, which can tolerate a bit more sun and less water. I'm guessing that if Dad was a hosta guy he was also a great general gardener...so why limit yourself too much.

I do second the lemon-lime family. It was one of the first hostas I purchased and it looks great and grows fast.

Regards,
Laura

[thehostagourmetgirl]

Before his hosta obsession my dad spent a lot of time on his rose garden and his perennial garden. He also loved hyacinths. So my mom and I created a spring planter with a small hydrangea and a bunch of hyacinths. It's beautiful. When it's spent we'll replace it with something that contains some hostas and I'll draw upon everyone's above suggestions. And I'll take a pic, too. Thanks so much for your help. PS - I was gone for 5 days and came home to see most of my hostas popping up. YAY!

[flowerchild59]

I was just reading about munchkin hosta in the hosta enclopedia and it stated that munchkin was pretty sun tolerant til july and august according to zillis.
ps, I bought some plants from your dad a few times, his emails were always nice and he had cool stuff for sale. He was quite an inspiration to many of us.