There’s a plant that’s been on my mind lately, and I thought mentioning it in this week’s article would be just the thing. Hostas! Hostas! Hostas! I have had success with hostas for about four years in a row. They are one of the hardiest blooming foliage plants for the colder, rainier inclined habitats. They originally came from Japan, China, and Korea, and were first introduced to Europe in the late 1700s. They were later introduced to the United States in the middle 1800s.

Hostas are extremely popular, hardy, and herbaceous perennials grown primarily for their beautiful foliage. They are easy to grow, shade-tolerant plants. Leaves vary in a wide range of shapes, colors, sizes, and textures. Some may be solid in color, or some may grow in different combinations of blue, green, white, and gold. A hosta plant generally reaches full maturity in 4–8 years. Although the green foliage of the hosta is beautiful by itself, it brings a midsummer surprise: All hostas grow showy spikes of lavender, which blossom to white, lily-like flowers in the summer. Do remember, hostas are one of the most popular foliage plants for those shady spots. So keep those shade-loving slugs and snails away, and you’ll have beautiful blooming hostas year after year.

Mulching is like feeding your garden, so feed it good for peat’s sake!

The best mulch for your garden is, you guessed it, Compost! The mixture of everything and anything you find around your yard, make sure to chop up everything you put in your compost, that way when you want to mulch up your garden, just shovel some up and work it into your soil for a voila! Instant super fertilizer! But, there is one thing you want to keep out of your compost: Fats and Meats! These can do more harm than good for your plants. And be wary of weeds after adding compost to your garden, the compost is such good soil the weeds spring up quite fast.

Pete Skenandore

via ProBlogPartners™