We planted hostas in pots in our front yard last year hoping to keep away the animals that were munching on the leaves. It seems to have worked. The hostas had a few leaves nibbled on but not many and this season they were full of flowers! Each time I thought they were finished, new buds opened up and they are sending out shoots for new plants as well. The plants seem to really like where they are. And that is mostly in the shade.
I enjoy watching plants grow. Each season brings something to appreciate whether it is flowers hinting at beauty before they burst forth or leaves opening up to drink on the sun or even a struggling plant coming into its own. The African Violet sitting in a pot on my kitchen windowsill is in its second blossoming, a joy for me to see.
I try not to casually dismiss each plant’s possibilities of expressing itself. I feel the same about people. We each have the possibility of offering the best of ourselves and especially in this difficult pandemic time, I hope that consideration of others is part of our social interaction. I notice lately that neighbors are waving and smiling when I take a walk, a friendly and welcome but sensitive distant greeting.
So even though I can’t individually be with everyone who follows Ferida’s Backyard, let me at least express my appreciation for my readers. I look forward to us all being healthy, productive, and blossoming once again.
How to plant hostas in a pot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woi8wdyHzK4
More info about hostas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVbo4zTpbXk
©2020 Ferida Wolff for SeniorWomen.com
Editor's Note: From the American Hosta Society:
In East Asia, hostas have been grown in gardens for centuries. Chinese documents mention hostas as early as the Han Dynasty 206 BC-220 AD, and in Japan they show up in scripts preceding the Nara period beginning in 710 AD. The 1829-1830 importations of hostas by Philipp von Siebold started hosta cultivation in the West, first in Europe in the early 1830s, and they reached North America just a few years after, a clear indication of their popularity. Although planted in gardens, even parks and cemeteries here and there, hostas did not attain the fame and popularity other perennials like daylilies had. This may have to do with the fact that most available hostas had plain green leaves and only a few variegated hostas were available. In the 1930s a few hosta enthusiasts realized that some of the hostas at hand had developed variegated leaves and interest in our favorite shade perennial began to develop.
Two individuals living hundreds of miles apart, became the founders of The American Hosta Society, now numbering nearly 3,000 members. The idea of a plant society dedicated to hostas was conceived by Alex J. Summers, then of Long Island, New York, and Eunice V. (Mrs. Glen) Fisher of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Based on the pioneering work done by Mrs. Frances R. Williams, a professional landscape architect, who in the 1930s transferred all of her gardening energies to the genus Hosta, a few enthusiasts in the Midwest and on the East Coast established collections of hostas and began “spreading the gospel” to other gardeners.
