The Beauty and Benefits of the Overlooked Green Hosta

John Plant
Jun 27
4 min read

Updated: Jul 7

When you think Hosta, you automatically picture brightly variegated, glorious blue and bright yellow leaved Hostas. It’s not surprising that the humble green Hosta doesn’t have the same platform and is often overlooked.

Of all the colours of Hosta available, solid green seems to be the least popular.

Let’s put that into some form of context.

What can a green Hosta do for you in the garden?

Pop a green leaved Hosta amongst other more brightly coloured ones and they will all pop. Green Hostas provide balance among all the other more variegated Hostas. Variegated Hostas are the most popular of colours whether as a normal or large Hosta or even the humble Miniature. When planted en-masse, these can be seen as almost chaotic if not broken up with a solid green Hosta. Even the most beautiful of Hostas can get lost in the crowd.

Large green Hostas make a wonderful back-drop to any brightly coloured display. It is always pleasing to the eye to see a combination of colours and variegation patterns are combined.

Try mixing solid green Hostas to break up the monotony, of a blanket of similar foliage. Try this with solid Yellow and solid blue varieties alongside the solid green and variegated ones.

Careful design and planning can mean that an entire layout contains no Hostas with similar colours or variegation, are side by side. Each and every Hosta stands out, on its own. Even the green ones!

There are many ‘Greens’.

A solid green Hosta doesn’t mean that it must be boring. All Hostas have characteristics of their own, not just necessarily its colour or variegation.

There are many different shades of green in the Hosta community from the relatively dark & shiny Hosta Devon Green to the pale green of Hosta Cranberry Wine. There are a variety of features that they can also contain different leaf sizes from the amazing large leaved Hosta Behemoth to the smaller greyer-green pointed version of Hosta Dewed Steel. Magnificent, in their own right, but very different.

There are variations in crown height, leaf texture, veining, margins, some are wavy, others not, and different colours atop and below the leaves can contribute to their differences. This does not take into account the different flower colour or scape colours and lengths. Yes, there are literally dozens and dozens of greens in the Hosta world.

Take a peek from a short distance to discover, is it vase-shaped, like the slightly bluer-green of Hosta Krossa Regal

Don’t forget the overall shape of each Hosta is also a major part of the characteristics of green Hostas. Take a peek from a short distance to discover, is it vase-shaped, like the slightly bluer-green of Hosta Krossa Regal, clump forming such as Hosta Elisabeth, rounded or low & spreading such as Hosta Carl. Each of these has its place.

The overall look of a Hosta together with the balance of flower height, colour also makes a difference between a good looking and great looking Hosta.

As you grow your magnificent collection, your tendency to start with, is to select great looking Hostas. Most tend to go for brightly coloured ones, possibly variegated, before yellows & blues. People do specialise in Hosta types, such as blues, or miniatures.

Eventually you will recognise the significance of having a few green Hostas in your collection.

Here are a few of my favourite green Hostas…….

Hosta Amethyst Gem… a wonderful low growing miniature Hosta with a mass of deep lavender to pale purple flower about twice the crown height. Looks magnificent in a mass planting. Grows quickly and splits readily for more plants.

Hosta Branching Out.. a small to medium sized Hosta with shiny, veined green leaves, but with a mass of almost double white flowers atop of 32” scapes.

Hosta Crimson Desire… a medium sized Hosta with shiny green leaves with a basal brush of purple, with purple scape and petioles. An upright flared habit.

Hosta Empress Wu.. a stunning giant-sized Hosta that will take your breath away. Massive size, massive leaves. A real standout either as part of a border or as a single display plant in a huge pot.

Hosta Komodo Dragon… another stunning giant Hosta that shouts out for itself. Slightly lighter green than H. Empress Wu, but has obvious stand out veins.

Hosta Marmalade on Toast.. a fast growing large Hosta featuring heart-shaped, corrugated, blue to green elongated leaves with gentle wavy margins.

Hosta Plantaginea (grandiflora)… not to forget these two. Large Hostas with mid-green leaves and very pretty white flowers that are fragrant. A real staple in the world of Hostas. Easily divisible after a few years.

Hosta Purple Heart.. a medium sized Hosta with deep maroon stems bearing broadly lance-shaped to ovate, mid-green leaves, maroon at the base. One of the most neat and uniform habits of any Hosta. The short petioles are almost black.

Hosta Quill.. a miniature to small Hosta with lanceolate green leaves and a profusion of pale purple flowers held well above the crown with dark green scapes. Has a mound shaping habit looking a bit like a green hedgehog.

There are many, many more that will make a difference in your collection, to many to mention.

The intrinsic problem lies with the hybridizers who are drawn to the bright variegated, yellow & blue varieties to expand their breeding program rather than the plain old green version. They tend not to appreciate, or even notice, the more subtle characteristics of the green Hosta. This reflects directly to the new varieties introduced onto the market. Who wants a new green Hosta that may not sell?

Whilst the brightly coloured versions are stunning, and you carry on collecting these, bear a thought for green Hosta. I hope that collectors will get to appreciate the benefits of green Hostas.

If you are not quite there, why don’t you better acquaint yourself with the humble green Hosta and add some of them to your colourful collection. Give them the recognition they deserve.