GIANT HOSTA MIX
Hostas are a garden staple! They add a tropical and fresh look to the shade, and draw the eye with their stand-out leaves. Hostas are versatile, rarely need to be watered, and 'behave' in their tidy clumps.
Sadly, there are no Hostas that come true to variety from seed, especially with variegated types (types with more than one color on the leaves). This is why seed companies do not offer hosta seeds for sale. This is true of ALL hosta seeds. However, Hosta seeds do come true to size! Seeds taken from large hostas will produce new large hostas! This seed mix is taken from all-large hostas. The pictures in this listing are our own hostas! Images show large to small, though this listing is for all giant Hostas (we also sell the tiny and medium-sized hosta seeds in separate listings). We carry some of the largest varieties including Northern Exposure, Sum Of All, Olive Bailey Langdon, Liberty, Earth Angel, Dream Weaver, Blue Angel, Enpress Wu, Abiqua Elephant Ears, Krossa Regal, Great Expectations, Regal Splendor, Sagee, Sieboldiana Elegans, Sum And Substance, and more!
Type: Perennial
Height: 28-42" tall leaves, and 36-56" tall flower spikes
Location: Shade, part shade or part sun
Hardiness zones: 3-8
Seeds per pack: 20
Seed size: Hosta seeds are long, flat and black. As these seeds are from the biggest hosta plants, they produce the biggest seeds, averaging about 7-10 mm long, and about 3 mm wide. Hosta seeds are a bit like a maple seed, or "key". There is a slightly bigger end which is the fertile seed, and there is a "wing", which allows it to blow, and catch the wind. Some hosta seeds will have broken wings, though this will not affect the ability of the fertile end of the seed to grow. We usually add a few extra seeds per pack also. Be sure to view our seed images. The seeds are interesting!
Germination: As with many perennial seeds, these seeds benefit from a period of moist cold to help them begin to grow. This is done by giving them a cold 'winter' period (artificial or natural), and then a warming to simulate 'spring', and time to grow! Here's how this can be done:
Obtain a planting container that has holes in the bottom for excess water to drain. Place the seeds just under the surface of your growing medium, and water. Place your container in a cold area (but not freezing, perhaps a refrigerator) for 4-6 weeks. Once the cold period is completed, place the container at room temperature for them to germinate. Be sure to keep the soil moist during this entire germination period. Seedlings will sprout a few weeks, or occasionally several months, after the warming period. We have grown these seeds ourselves using this refrigeration method, with high germination results.
Another option if you are planting your seeds in late winter or spring, these seeds can be planted outdoors while it is still cool out (once the ground is workable and unfrozen), to receive the cold period naturally in the garden.
One interesting thing about Hosta plants, is that they will keep growing as long as they have light. This means, that if you want to speed-up hosta growth during the growing season, artificial lighting (increasing the day length) can help you get your hosta plants bigger, faster! Be sure to allow you plants to acclimatize back to regular lighting later in the season (and plant them in the ground), so they will go dormant in the winter.
