What You Don't Know About Growing Hostas (But Should)
Are you like me? There’s more to hostas than I ever realized.
Tough, reliable, green. They fill the spots where nothing else will grow. Done.
Or so I thought.
Dennis Savory would like a word.
Dennis is the second-generation owner of Savory’s Gardens in Minnesota, one of the country’s most respected hosta nurseries. His father Robert was one of the original hybridizers and a founding member of the American Hosta Society. Dennis grew up weeding hosta beds. He knows things.
And what he knows is that the hosta world has been quietly undergoing a revolution. Red leaves. Purple tones. Award-winning new varieties making headlines at the world’s most prestigious flower show. The humble shade plant? It just won Plant of the Year at the Chelsea Flower Show, the Oscars of the gardening world!
From Japan to Your Garden
Hostas are native to Japan and Eastern Asia, arriving in Europe in the early 19th century and making their way to the United States not long after. Dennis remembers: “There were just a few” when his parents started the nursery in 1946. “It really took into the ‘60s before there were any number of them.”
The American Hosta Society, founded in 1968, changed everything. Members began trading varieties across the country, and hybridizers like Robert Savory, Dennis’ father, started developing new cultivars. The Minnesota Hosta Society followed in 1991.
Robert Savory left his fingerprints all over Minnesota’s hosta legacy. He worked closely with Dr. Leon Snyder, the founder of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, to create what became one of the nation’s most beautiful hosta display gardens. The MacMillan Hosta Glade opened in 1980 when the American Hosta Society held its national gathering in Minnesota, and the Society designated it as its very first national display garden. Many of the original plants are still growing there today. Robert is also credited with hybridizing Golden Tiara in 1977, a compact cultivar that revolutionized the industry and became the parent of dozens of other varieties.
And the numbers? Staggering. I mentioned to Dennis that I’d read there were about 3,000 registered hosta cultivars. He looked it up after our interview. The current count, by the end of 2025: 6,936 registered cultivars. And the site My Hostas tracks 14,583 hostas total, including those not yet registered. “There’s probably a lot more than that now,” Dennis said, with the calm of a man who has long since stopped being surprised by anything a hosta can do.
Breaking News From Chelsea: The World’s First Red Hosta
If you follow the gardening world at all, you may have caught the news out of London in May. At the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, one plant ruled them all.
Hosta ‘Red Ninja’ won the prestigious Plant of the Year Award at Chelsea 2026, beating out nominations from a panel of 139 expert judges. “Of all the plants, this is the one I would most want to add to a collection,” said one judge.
What makes Red Ninja remarkable: it’s considered the world’s first truly red-leaf hosta. Not red stems. Not a red blush that fades by July. Red leaves, all season, with a narrow green margin. Developed by Danish plant breeder Ninja Kramer, it’s available in North America exclusively through the Bloomin’ Easy brand via a partnership with Concept Plants and Pioneer Gardens.
Dennis mentioned Red Ninja in the same breath as two other red-trend hostas already on the market: First Blush, which develops a brick-red blush over most of the leaf in spring before fading in summer heat (in northern gardens, that color often holds all season), and Bloodline, a Minnesota creation by hybridizer Doug Ruff of Hosta Originals. “It does the same thing,” Dennis said of Bloodline, “only maybe a little more.”
Red Ninja promises to do what neither of those can quite claim: stay red. Keep an eye out for it in 2027.
Hostas That Will Surprise You
Ask Dennis about unusual hostas and he doesn’t hesitate. He mentions Mito no Hana first, a Japanese selection of Hosta rectifolia whose name translates as “Flower of Mito.” The leaves are oblong and dark green with screaming yellow veins that gradually soften to green in summer heat, then return each spring. Dark lavender flowers rise on 30-inch spikes by late summer. One of the most coveted hostas in the world.
Then there’s Lakeside Paisley Print, which Dennis calls a personal favorite. Compact at about 10 inches tall and 20-30 inches wide, it earns its name with dramatic variegation and a dense, mounded habit. “There are so many varieties,” he says, “it’s hard to just pick one out.” He also names Voices in the Wind and Dancing in the Moonlight for their wavy, variegated leaves, and Golden Tiara, his father’s Original Savory cultivar. “It’s been around a long time,” Dennis says. “Good for borders.”
The Shade Myth, Debunked
Here’s what Dennis wants every gardener to know: most hostas don’t want deep shade. They want bright shade. Dappled light. A couple of hours of morning sun is ideal for many varieties.
“If you have high dappled shade, that’s really good,” he says. “They’ll grow better than in really dense shade.” Take Praying Hands, an award-winning 2011 Hosta of the Year with distinctive narrow, folded leaves that resemble clasped hands. “It’ll take quite a bit of sun,” Dennis notes.
Two exceptions worth knowing: hostas with a lot of white in their leaves need more light, not less, because they have less chlorophyll. And those beautiful blue hostas, that color comes from a waxy coating on the leaf. Too much sun and the wax disappears, the blue goes with it, and the plant may scorch at the edges and tips. “After a while in the summer,” Dennis says of hostas in too much afternoon sun, “they start looking a little ratty.”
Burned and frost-damaged hostas look similar: leaf tips and edges turn brown, or the entire leaf goes translucent and collapses. Dennis mentions this spring’s late frosts where temperatures hit 25 degrees for several nights and did real damage to the display garden at Savory’s. “But they’re looking good again,” he says. “Some of them are quite full-sized.”
Size Matters: How to Plant for the Long Game
Hostas range from a couple of inches tall to nearly 50 inches, with the largest spreading six, seven, or more feet across. That’s not a typo. Extra-large hostas are genuinely large.
Dennis’s advice: measure your space, then look up the mature size and width of the variety you’re considering. Decide whether you want them to eventually touch and fill in, or stay separate for display. Either approach works. Just know which one you’re planning for.
One phenomenon worth knowing: the fairy ring. Over time, some hostas die out in the center and push new growth in a ring around the outer edge. If you spot a dead center, divide out the healthy sections and replant them closer together, or tuck new plants into the middle. You don’t have to divide hostas regularly, but occasionally it helps.
The bigger risk to size is a harsh winter. A hosta that came through a brutal season may return at a fraction of its former size and take years to recover. Patience is part of growing hostas.
Yes, You Can Grow Hostas in Containers
It works. Dennis confirms it. The key is winter protection: the pots cannot freeze and thaw repeatedly. That’s what kills them.
At Savory’s, they cover containers with ground cloth and hay, and tuck mouse poison in with the pots in the greenhouse. “Mice and voles,” he says, “can get in and just really devastate them.” At home, you can bury pots in the ground for winter, or cover them deeply with hay, leaves, or compost. Cut the tops off before covering. Hostas need a dormant period to truly thrive, so you’re not trying to keep them warm, you’re trying to keep the temperature stable.
Deer, Rabbits, and the Slug Situation
Hostas are, unfortunately, delicious. Deer and rabbits both know it.
Dennis has tried Liquid Fence, but with a property this size, keeping up with reapplication after every rain becomes a project.
For a different approach, Don Rawson’s site Hosta Lists includes a list of more deer-resistant varieties, along with sun-tolerant hostas and dozens of other useful categories.
Rawson’s site also references a University of Minnesota-developed product called Repellex Systemic Granular, which delivers a hot pepper concentrate through the plant’s root system, making leaves unpalatable to browsing animals. Because the compound is inside the plant cells, it doesn’t wash off in rain. One treatment lasts a season.
Slugs are a separate issue. Dennis uses pelleted bait: Bug-Geta or Sluggo (Sluggo Plus is OMRI-listed and certified organic). He also keeps mulch away from the plants, since it gives slugs a place to hide. “Sandy soil deters them too,” he says. “Some people put pine needles down.” Dennis says start early in the season and stay consistent.
One More Thing Before You Go
I asked Dennis for his single best tip for growing hostas. He didn’t hesitate.
“Good soil. That can really make a difference. When they get good soil and they get well watered, it’s easy to put the roots down.” Some of his display beds are built almost entirely from compost with a little peat. Add manure. Build the soil first. The rest follows.
Simple advice from a man who has been growing these plants his entire life and whose family helped build the hosta world Minnesota gardeners enjoy today. When you’re ready to see them in person, head to Savory’s Gardens. There is, as it turns out, no better classroom.
While You’re at It: Catch the Minnesota Hosta Society Show
If this issue has you itching to see hostas up close, you’re in luck. The Minnesota Hosta Society 2026 Show is happening this weekend at Bachman’s on Lyndale in Minneapolis.
Bachman’s on Lyndale
6010 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419 - Heritage Room
Saturday, June 27: 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Sunday, June 28: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
(612) 861-7676
It’s a chance to see the range of what hostas can do, the blues, the golds, the wavy-edged, the miniatures, all in one room. Worth the trip.
As Arnold might say - Hosta La Vista, baby!
Diana
#bloomwithme
Resources Mentioned in This Issue
Savory’s Gardens — savorysgardens.com
The Hosta Library — hostalibrary.org
My Hostas (14,500+ varieties) — myhostas.be
American Hosta Society Registrar — hostaregistrar.org
Hosta Lists by Don Rawson — hostalists.org
Deer-Resistant Hosta List — hostalists.org/hosta_list_drh.php
Mito no Hana at Plant Delights — plantdelights.com
First Blush Hosta — springhillnursery.com
Bloodline Hosta by Doug Ruff — hostaoriginals.com
Hosta Originals (Doug Ruff) — hostaoriginals.com
Red Ninja at Bloomin’ Easy — bloomineasyplants.com
Concept Plants (Red Ninja licensing) — conceptplants.com
Red Ninja Chelsea coverage — nurserymag.com
Praying Hands Hosta — waltersgardens.com
Lakeside Paisley Print — monrovia.com
How to Plant Hostas (The Spruce) — thespruce.com
Slug control without chemicals — mygardenlife.com
Repellex Systemic Granular — repellex.com
I love all your articles Diana! I always learn something new! As an avid gardener and a recent retired Bachman's employee it helps keep me updated with new trends and ideas. Thank you ❤️
Great article. Basics not always so basic, but always essential.