Why I Oughta...

Putting this in my garden diary:  waterslide (ruffled) hostas put on short, close-to-the-crown purple flowers in mid/late August.  See below for a photo of the current view of the three Waterslides that we have in the backyard.  I planted the f irst one of these in 2020 from the Morton Sale and added the two others from the orange big box store in 2021 .   Compare this mid/late August bloom time with some of the other varieties like these dark-green Venticosa hostas that bloomed with dark-purple, but very tall blooms in late July .  Having a mix of bloom-times is something that I need to continue to work on - with the ideal being a true four-season garden.

Nobody grows hostas for their flowers.  Is that a 'hot take'?  I don't think so.  Foliage gardeners (I'm a self-proclaimed foliage gardener) grow hostas because of what they do:  shade-garden workhorses that add some texture and fill in spaces. But...they also flower.  With these tall, odd, scapes of flowers.  Are they scapes ? I think so .  I remember my mom's garden, filled with hostas.  And popping the purple flowers that emerged each Summer.  I don't think I've ever tracked the flower emergence in my own garden, so I figured I'd start a little bit right now. Why now?   Because I was walking around the garden one morning recently and was struck by one set of flowers in back.  On these hostas: The flowers seem VERY dark purple (for hostas).  Thanks to the Hosta Library, it appears that these are Venticosa hostas .   The Delaware Hosta Association has this description : The Dark Green One with Purple Flowers: H. ventricosa This one also has shiny heart-