Giant Glue Hosta

Hosta Elegans

With its dramatic clumps of magnificent corrugated leaves, Hosta Elegans is perfect for creating an impressive ground cover layer in dappled or even deep shade. The structural quality of its glaucous leaves and the accolade of an RHS Award of Garden Merit make Hosta Elegans a choice selection.

As an added bonus, this giant hosta produces delicate spikes of the palest lilac bell-shaped flowers to 70cm which are beautifully contrasted against the sea of blue-green foliage.

Browse more Hosta varieties, or all of our perennial plants.

Great in your garden

The luxuriant foliage of Hosta Elegans suits a range of situations including woodland gardens, cottage borders, specimen plants in containers, waterside planting and Oriental gardens.

With their broad, tactile leaves, hostas work wonderfully as underplanting for taller shade-loving perennials such as ferns like Dryopteris filix-mas; ligularia; Solomon's seal and astilbes.

Incorporate some leaf-mould or organic matter into the ground when planting to conserve moisture as hostas don't like to dry out. Hosta Elegans is one of the more slug-resistant hostas but may still be susceptible to damage, so check foliage regularly and use organic nematode treatments, or plant in containers where foliage is more easily protected.

Features

• Colour: Spikes of pale lilac to white bell-shaped flowers
• Flowering: Jun-Aug
• Foliage: Impressive clumps of large blue-green corrugated leaves with wavy margins
• Height: 60 cm
• Spread: 1.2 m
• Position: Partial shade, tolerates full shade
• Soil: Rich, moist, well-drained, acid or neutral
• Awards: RHS AGM

What's in a name?

Hostas are named after Nicolous Thomas Host (1761-1834), an Austrian botanist and first director of the Belvedere palace botanic garden in Vienna. Most hostas, however, were introduced into Europe from Japan by Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866), who later gave his name to the species Hosta sieboldii and Hosta sieboldiana.

Plant in a semi-shaded spot or in full shade in rich, moist but well-drained soil. Prefers acid or neutral conditions. Water well when planting and continue to water regularly until well established. Mulch annually in spring or autumn and clear dead foliage at the end of the season.

Ideal as a specimen plant in containers with its dramatic clumps of structural leaves. Plant in soil-based compost, place the container in partial shade and keep well watered throughout the growing season.

Hostas dislike drying out, so water regularly in hot weather. One of the more resistant hostas to slug and snail damage, but plants may still need protection. Use copper tape around pots and organic nematode treatments in borders.

Remove dead foliage at the end of the growing season. Lift and divide plants every three years in late summer or early spring.