Hostas are
generally considered shade plants, but any hosta can be grown in full
sun. The only down side of growing them in the sun is that they usually
don't look good. If, for some reason you want to grow ugly hostas, then
sun is no problem.
First of
all, full sun means sun during the middle of the day when it's hot and
uncomfortable. Except maybe in the deep South, early morning sun and
late afternoon sun are not full sun. That's just bright light. And if
you have an area with hot, intense sun for any significant amount of
time, why are you trying to grow shade plants there? Instead of trying
to figure out how to plant hostas where they're probably going to burn
up, why not just plant something that likes the sun? There are tons of
good plants for full sun in our perennial catalog. Just go to
www.crownsvillenursery.com.
If you
have to grow hostas and you have to grow them in the sun, the most
important thing you can do for the plants is keep them well watered. If
you keep them well watered, there are a few varieties that may do well
enough in the sun to be worthwhile, but if they dry out, they are very
likely to burn. The American Hosta Society publishes a grower's guide
that lists the following hostas that we offer as "sun tolerant". Most, but not all of
these plants are offered in our catalog.
To their
list, I would add Squash Casserole, Golden Sculpture, and Inniswood.
Probably
any hosta with fragrant flowers could be added to this list. Hosta
plantaginea is the only species with fragrant flowers, and all fragrant
hostas have plantaginea in their blood line. Plantaginea is also the
southernmost growing species in its native range, so these varieties
seem to be better in sunny spots than most. Listed below are fragrant
flowered hybrids we offer that would be worth trying, and of course there are
others. There is some duplication in the two lists.
