Shrubs
mean of plant some genus Funka in pots or containers , but are n’t indisputable what to plant them with ? Hostas can companion plant well with many unlike alternative , but which ones will execute in a tight space like a pot , or container ? In this clause , indorse master gardener Laura Elsner walks through her favorite hosta companions when container planting in your garden .
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genus Hosta are one of my all time favorite perennials . There are so many different varieties of color , figure and size . It make them one of the gaudy , and versatile plants in the garden . Hostas also make great companions whenplanted in a shade garden , or garden layer next to another plant . But , one of my all time favorite lotion for hostas is growing them in container . When youplant hostas in containers , they do n’t have to be planted alone !
Thelush leafy foliageof a genus Hosta can really replete up a pot . The subtle mutation in leafage size , color , and texture earn them an interesting addition to all eccentric of container garden . But add together some accent plants underneath them or alongside them can make for visually stunning display .
When it comes to container or pot planting , thehostacan look amazing when combined with other plants . Some in my feeling , are slightly better than others . permit ’s take a cryptic look into some of my favorite industrial plant tobuddy up with a hostawhen planning out a container garden !
Golden Lysimachia
This one is my favourite . I actually plant golden genus Lysimachia as a trailer in tons of my annual pattern . It is thickset and lush and has a beautiful golden color that really remain firm out . I jazz it spilling out of a container with a hosta . My favorite hosta would be one that has some form of chartreuse color variation . Whether in the margins like hosta ‘ Francis Willams ’ , or in the center like hosta ‘ strip teasing ’ .
The favorable colour in the hosta next to the halcyon lysimachia really pops in containers . The big leave of hostas can really fill a container and not leave room for much else . The little bright leaf of the golden lysimachia spill over the edges of the pot and adds interestingness without get in the manner of the hosta ’s braggy parting .
Alyssum
Sweet genus Alyssum and hosta is a combination I keep fare back to . It is simple , quaint and cottagey . But it still has a really elevated and elegant feel . I like how the tiny little snowy flowers ( you’re able to also get it in purple ) pop out from underneath the wide brimmed hosta leaves . Also , if you are planting alyssum in sit areas , it smells awing !
Like lysimachia , genus Alyssum is small and just occupy in the gap of the hosta leaves without getting in the way of their wide spreading plant . If you have a hosta you over winter in a container , just pop in a six battalion of alyssum and it is an exigent container design .
Pansy
Pansies and hostas are bang-up friends because they both love the same cool mottled sunlight conditions . I get it on the wide faces of milksop under the large leave of hostas . This is a simple combination that always does well together . Pansies are also easy to maturate , and can take some neglect .
I love mixing blue leaf hostas , such as hosta ‘ profane holy man ’ or ‘ halcyon ’ with purple pansies such as ‘ matrix low splodge ’ . It ’s a cool combination for a shady corner .
Another nice combination are pure snowy poof , like ‘ delta premium sodding ashen ’ , with white abut hosta such as hosta ‘ nationalist ’ or ‘ Francee ’ . Together they reckon crisp and clear up up a shady corner .
I like using the premade mixture varieties of pansies because they have variation in color , but they all go together . It ’s an well-to-do trick to make nicely put together container designs . A large container with a heavy unripe hosta like ‘ August moon ’ paired with a pansy mix such as Dynamite ‘ waterfall mixing ’ would be a coolshade well-disposed container combo .
The cool wave series of pansies offer flowers that drag out , so if the hosta takes up the entire wad and does n’t leave much elbow room for milksop , debate add together cool wave pansies as a trailing flower .
Coleus
I am a big foliage over bloom nurseryman . Do n’t get me incorrect , I have it away heyday . But act with leaf texture and color is an easy , low maintenance way ( i.e. no deadheading ) to add a modern turn to your outdoor space . Coleus and hosta together do just that . There are almost infinite combinations to try .
Some Funka are gravid and can be the master feature film ( thriller ) in a pot . Or there are small hostas that can be a filler in a stool . The same with coleus , there are largecoleus varieties , and littler filler plants .
If you are in a garden substance during planting time of year , grab a cart and grab some Funka and coleus and play around with the varying summit and color until you find something you really jazz . You ’ll see what colour combinations make the hosta and flame nettle dad . Here are a few of my favorite combos .
Big Red Judy flame nettle as the feature orthriller plant life in your container . It ’s large , fast growth , and red . Put this in a pot alongside the modest , blue leafed hosta ‘ mouse ear ’ as the makeweight underneath and they will down . I ’d total fortunate lysimachia to spill out the edges and that is a great container without a flower .
A large chartreuse Sum and Substance hosta as the feature and then plant some wizard mix flame nettle underneath as a makeweight for a low-down colorful plan . Again I ’d add golden lysimachia as the spiller because I just ca n’t aid myself .
Hydrangea
Hydrangeasand Funka go together so perfectly in the garden it is no wonder they ’d be a bully catch in containers . For this one I really like the look of them in separate kitty , but placed together in a grouping . This is a with child way to incorporate perennial into container . It is really simple and elegant and create lush patio and sitting orbit .
In pot designs with hydrangea , hosta takes a bear office . I can either be in a separate pot , or planted underneath the large hydrangea . Obviously the big bollock of hydrangea flowers are locomote to steal the show . But the heavy rotund hosta result really complement and accent the large round leaves of the hydrangea and elevate it even more .
Ferns
Hostas and ferns are a great contrast of texture . The light feathery airy fern fronds contrast beautifully against the large oval leave of absence of Funka . There are also so many varieties of ferns and genus Funka , that the theory are almost sempiternal for combinations .
I like having a large plant for a thriller in a pot . For illustration large size dracena spike . After that , I can layer other works in . tot some bloom , like impatiens or fuchsia to break up the green . Then sum up a hosta for some big chunky leaf appealingness . Then a simple fern ( boston or Asparagus officinales etc . ) softens everything . I nuzzle the fern up to the hosta to highlight their different textures .
you’re able to also play with colors of ferns and hostas . Nipponese painted fernsare a endearing silvery color and would look great planted next to a solid green genus Funka such as ‘ August moon ’ .
A fern can be a feature plant in a toilet , like an ostrich fern , cervid fern , or a boston fern . Put this in the shopping centre of the flock and then layer a combination of small , low - grow hostas , like hosta ‘ June ’ . Then add insome big tuberous begonias . This add together a pop of people of color and breaks up the green on green . This would be a beautiful and exuberant shady combining .
Begonia
This combination might be my favorite . Again , there are so many types of begonia and so many types of hostas . I could make hundreds of pots with hosta and begonia and they would all be altogether different .
Non halt begonias , a tuberous mixture , is a keen choice , especially in containers . The efflorescence are great and rose - like . They come in a variety of colouring , crimson , pink , white , and white-livered . Adding a few of these into containers with genus Funka really turns up the volume with their vast blossoms . They can be ascertain from a distance .
For a more modern twist on genus Hosta and begonia attempt mate your genus Funka with rex begonias . These begonia are known for their intricate foliage patterns and coloring material as oppose to their flowers . A blue tint hosta , like ‘ halycon ’ with escargot rex begonias plant around would be an middle - catch combination .
Or for a different shape , try a hang up eccentric begonia to dribble down from underneath a hosta ’s leaves . sample planting a tall hosta , such as the lovely chartreuse multifariousness ‘ saltation pouf , ’ in the back of a pot . Then level in some Bellaconia Soft Orange begonia spilling out the front of the pot .
Browallia
Browallia is a gorgeous refinement flower that is less vulgar than begonias and impatiens . It is a bushy plant with big mavin shaped flowers that hail in royal or white . I like the small glossy leave of absence against the larger hosta foliage , and the browallia bloom of youth really add a pop .
I like using the bush violet as the main feature in the pot and then supply smaller Funka , like ‘ mouse ears ’ or ‘ little caesar ’ in front for a lush shady jazz band .
Or , imbed a hosta in a taller pot on its own and tot up lower potsfilled with bush violet . Either room , it makes a great compounding of foliage and flower . As a fillip , if you lease your genus Funka blossom it will also have showy imperial flowers .
Lobelia
Lobelia is sometimes considered a Sunday annual . However , I find oneself that if you let it dry out on a red-hot day , for even a minute ( or so it seems ) they electrocute and turn crispy brown . In a part nicety container however , they are tufts of blasphemous , purple , white , or even red flowers that spill out of containers . Plant any hosta and then add lobelia underneath it to run out out . It is a slap-up cool tad jazz group .
Diamond Frost
Diamond frost euphorbiais one of my preferred annual to plant . They are technically a sunlight industrial plant , but there are a variety of newer Hosta on the market that take more sun . Any of the swooning , chartreuse varieties can handle more Sunday . Diamond Robert Frost is a frail airy filler flower that has fragile ball field blossoms all over it .
Try pair a hopeful sun hosta , like ‘ meat and core ’ with diamond frost underneath . I would also add some round-the-clock red or deep jump begonias to give it some extra feel . The diamond frost just fills the heap and tot up some light airy grain underneath the wide-eyed satisfying genus Funka leaves .
Impatiens
This is another classic pairing . Impatiens are dispirited growingand shaggy-haired flowers that have big tropic looking flowers that come in lots of different colors . A large hosta , like Empress Wu with a planting of red , whitened , or pink impatiens underneath would look refined and telling . I would add some ivy to spill out of the tummy .
There are also New Guinea impatiens which are larger and showier . These could be layered in separate quite a little around hostas for a lush tropic feel .
Sunpatiens are new introductions that take both sun and shade condition . I love the variegated diversity that have aureate interiors and dismal green security deposit . Pair them with variegated genus Hosta like hosta ‘ liberty ’ to create a foetid variegated pattern .
Final Thoughts
I just scratched the surface with possibilities for hosta container fellow traveler . Just make indisputable when putting together your hosta container that everything in that containerlikes the same conditions . Do n’t institute full sun heyday withdark blue nicety - have it off hostas . If you require to add more Lord’s Day peak , be sure to be implant lighter one-sided hostas that can tolerate more sun . Have fun mixing and matching containers and pots with hostas in your garden this season !
