Apparently deer appreciate hosta flowers too, because we've lost a large number of the flower spikes (before they really bloomed) to the deer who come for a succulent snack in the dark!
Check out other close-ups at Monday Macro2.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Hosta Flowers
I have to admit that I've generally ignored the hosta flowers, beyond noticing the many white spikes along the fencerow at this time of year. But hostas are actually the backbone of our garden, planted along 200 feet of an old stone fencerow. We have easily 400 plants of 300 different varieties, so I thought it was high time I should take a closer look. I was pleasantly surprised at the results.
Hostas are best known for the leaves, which do well in shade, and come in a variety of greens, sometimes with some white, and with varying textures. The leaves range in size from 1 inch to more than a foot, forming plants from 6 inches wide to 6 or more feet wide! And we have a lot of them! The flowers are actually all very similar, but this was one of the most striking when I took the macro lens and tried to get some close-ups.
Viewed from the side, individual hosta blooms on the spike of flowers are quite beautiful, and they come in a range of colours from mostly white through to purple (above) or blue (below). And looking closely you can see that the stamens also vary in colour, from yellowy above through reddish brown here, to blue below.
You almost have to look up inside the blooms to really see them, and have to get down on the ground with your camera to get a picture. Perhaps someday I'll post some pictures of the varied leaves too.
Only in some varieties do the stamens and pistil seem to unfold like this, while the petals bend backwards, giving this sort of an open view of the flower. I have a whole new appreciation of hosta flowers now.
Apparently deer appreciate hosta flowers too, because we've lost a large number of the flower spikes (before they really bloomed) to the deer who come for a succulent snack in the dark!
This is the view you usually see walking by the fencerow, with about 15 different hosta plants in this picture. This is just a tiny corner of our hosta collection, so I guess I should be paying more attention to them. At one point I knew a great many of them by name, because I transplanted all these from another garden when we moved here. The profusion of blooms does catch your attention, but they have always seemed rather nondescript to me (in comparison with other flowers in our garden). Looking closely gives an entirely different impression.
Apparently deer appreciate hosta flowers too, because we've lost a large number of the flower spikes (before they really bloomed) to the deer who come for a succulent snack in the dark!
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Hi, Wow--you do have alot of Hostas. I have quite a few --but not nearly as many as you have. I am going to add some more around a couple of round beds in our yard this next year. They make such a great 'ground-cover' look. I have always liked the plant better than the flowers.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Hugs,
Betsy
Thanks for visiting again; enjoying your own posts too.
DeleteWow, that's a lotta hosta. I don't think I've ever seen blue flowers like those. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting; enjoyed your swamp visit.
DeleteLovely! Hostas have beautiful leaves. I've never paid much attention to the flowers.
ReplyDeleteJust like me; the leaves are what you notice.
DeleteBeautiful insight into this lovely flower!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting Gemma, and thanks for all your work on Macro Monday 2. Some great photos linked there.
DeleteI knew the flower but not their name. I've learned something this morning! Thanks for the lesson. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting DJan. Glad you learned something new.
DeleteI think hosta flowers are beautiful but, then, I prefer plainer blossoms over frilly or complicated one. Four hundred hostas? That sure is a LOT!
ReplyDeleteYes it's a lot, and guess who does much of the weeding!
DeleteHi there Furry Gnome...
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting me...How did you find me?
Hostas are one of my VERY favorite plants...and to think that you have 400....is awesome...to say the least!
Drawers are cleaned out...and I feel better!
Cheers!
Linda :o)
Linda, thanks for visiting. Found your blog just surfing the blog world which opened a huge new world of interesting stuff for me starting a few weeks ago. I notice other Ontario blogs particularly, and spent a summer several decades ago travelling the shore of Lake Erie, doing a shoreline study. Don't get there often now, but noticed on your blog immediately.
DeleteI guess you saw our sweet cottage photos...we are in Lowbanks...LOVE IT THERE!!! It is between Port Colborne and Dunnville...quite an interesting part of the province...Looks like a "blossoming" friendship...eh Furry?!
DeleteGlad to have you aboard...
You certainly have a lot of hostas. I've always like them. I had them in previous yards but there are none here. I'll have to remedy that.
ReplyDeleteYes, plant some hostas so you don't have so much grass to mow.
DeleteWe have finally got our hostas to sustain their blooms - usually the heat has killed them off by now. Love your photos!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting. I look forward to reading about your own writing efforts.
DeleteInteresting post on hostas. I've never seen one with blue blooms before either. I do notice the blooms, I have one small one that blooms a lot. I also noticed that white blooms tend to be fragrant, like so many other white flowers, I guess to attract special pollinators at night that like scent. I had to have that one.;-) I am not much for cutting flowers, I like to enjoy them longer outdoors, but maybe I should cut that one sometime to enjoy the fragrance. I can't grow as many as I would like because we have heavy deer damage and they have to be grown behind fences in my yard.
ReplyDeleteWe get a bit of deer damage every year, but so far no serious destruction.
Delete