JanisMurray's Blog

Hi Everybody!

St. Louis is the center of the Hosta world this week!

More than 300 members of the American Hosta Society are holding their 40th annual convention at the Sheraton Westport Chalet (the Swiss looking bldg) today, Wed. 6/11 through Sat. 6/14. 

They are touring 14 fabulous St. Louis Home Gardens loaded with hostas. Plus there are lots of seminars and vendors featuring the latest in hostas at the hotel.

The public is invited and to view the schedule of events just go to stlouishosta.org or call 314-965-7027 or the Sheraton directly.

If you ever wanted to know anything about hostas, here's your chance. These folks from all over the country know it all!

Hostas are shade loving perennials known for their long green leaves that come in all shapes and hundreds of shades of green, many with variegated (striped) leaves.

Hostas are the most popular perennials in the world followed by day lilies in the number #2 spot. Hostas are the top selling perennials in the U.S. too!

There are as many as 5,000 varieties and some local home gardeners have as many as 640 varieties in their home collections! That's one reason the American Hosta Society chose St. Louis for it's big convention!

Hostas are relatively inexpensive and any shade garden should have at least a few . . .their colors and textures brighten up shade beautifully and dependably.

If you want to grow them:

--They like shade, or shade with some morning sun. Planted in full sun, they will scorch out.

--They like lots of water (so they are very happy this year!)

--Fertilize with a balanced fertilizer like a 12-12-12. You can do it once for the season with a slow release fertilizer like Osmocote. Or fertilize them every two weeks during the season with something like Miracle Gro.

--Hostas are prone to slugs . . .they like to eat the leaves. So, to control slugs, you can sprinkle slug bait that contains poison (so don't use if you have pets or kids) or your organic alternatives are coffee grounds (the caffeine freaks out the slugs) or putting a saucer of beer near the base of the plant (slugs love beer and drown). You can also pouf diatomaceous earth (powdered crustaceans) onto the undersides of the leaves with a hand squeeze "puffer" available at garden centers.

Have fun! Hosta-lah-vee-stah!

Janis