But put them in their place and they love it just fine. The many varieties are grown for their cool looking leaf textures and variegated leaf colors. Colors of the leaves vary from yellow green to dark green. Variegations are green and white or green and cream-colored. There are also some bluish varieties. Textures sometimes include ribbed leaves.

The two main points to growing hostas successfully concern light and water. Leaf color of variegated varieties may vary with the amount of light. There are also some selections that tolerate more light. Often in the north, hostas can be grown in sunnier areas if provided plenty of water, otherwise leaves will burn, discoloring and turning brown. The plant grows in zones four through nine. They like rich, well drained soils with plenty of compost.

 Hosta grow dense enough to make a great shade ground cover. A bonus is the tall flower stalks with white flowers which appear around August.

  Buy a pot of them from a garden center one year, and divide the rapidly spreading clumps in fall and spring to make more plants. The leaves turn brown in the fall when frost causes the plant to die back to its roots.

  Dig up the entire clump, shake off most of the dirt, and then grip each side of the clump. Pull, twist, or tease the plantlets apart so that each stem gets some roots.

  The biggest threat to hostas are hungry slugs and snails. Even small holes which are made when the leaves are tiny get larger as the leaves grow.
  Many Hosta Varieties are also available through mail order businesses or E-bay (see ad below).