I have no expertise in garden design, and even if I did, I don't see how anyone could provide a design or suggest a plant list for an area they haven't seen and know little or nothing about. I realize there are people who will do it, I just don't know how. So I can't tell you what hosta goes where, or looks good next to whatever. All I can do is tell you the ones I personally like, and at the same time warn you that I really don't know why anyone would care.

The differences between most of the 300 or so hostas in our catalog can be boiled down to three essentials; how large they'll get, what they cost, and what they look like. To decide which hostas are best for you, you simply have to eliminate all of them that are too large, too small, and too expensive, and from what's left, you pick which ones you like best. It's the same decision you make every time you shop for clothes, cars or any number of things you buy. Except with hostas it's very hard to make a mistake. We don't sell ugly hostas. Even when we occasionally list a plant that may not be a good choice for the average gardener for some reason, we'll tell you so. It really doesn't matter which ones I like, they're not going in my garden.

Obviously, this is not the answer people are looking for, so I've set up a separate category in our catalog titled "Favorites". I've tried to include a wide range of shapes, sizes, colors, and prices. If you can't cope with going through the whole catalog, hopefully you'll find a few plants in this group that fit your needs. I have not included miniatures in my selections for two reason, first, because people who like miniatures seem to like all miniatures, and second, I am not one of those people.

My suggestion is to just jump in there. Look at the pictures and pick the ones you like. Generally you'll find that you like the plants even better than the pictures.