Hosta Wide Brim

• Variety: Wide Brim
• Latin name: Hosta 'Wide Brim' (v)
• Type: Herbaceous perennial, grown for foliage
• Foliage: Heart-shaped, puckered blue-green leaves with a broad gold margin ageing to ivory
• Flower: Pale lavender funnels in mid to late summer
• Height: 45cm (18in), flower stems to 60cm
• Spread: 90cm (3ft)
• Flowering: July to August
• Position: Partial shade; morning sun deepens the gold
• Hardiness: Bone hardy, RHS H7, the top rating
• Pruning: Cut the collapsed leaves away once frost has finished them
• RHS AGM: Yes, it holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit
• Sold as: 3L and 5L pot-grown plants
• Plant outdoors: Year round
• Delivered: Year round. Collection from Castle Cary also available

A hosta in gardens since 1979 and never bettered at what it does: quilted blue-green hearts with a margin so wide the name wrote itself.

Hosta Wide Brim: Gold Margins That Earn the Name

Wide Brim is a medium hosta, about 45cm tall and 90cm across, with heart-shaped, deeply puckered blue-green leaves wrapped in a broad, irregular margin that opens buttery gold and pales to ivory as the season runs. It holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit and carries the top H7 hardiness rating, so there is no garden in Britain too cold for it. Pale lavender funnel flowers arrive on 60cm stems in July, a pleasant bonus on a plant you buy for the leaves.

Paul Aden raised it in 1979, and nearly half a century on, florists still cut those quilted leaves for arrangements; each one lasts a fortnight in water, which few foliage plants manage. Light plays a game with the margin. Give it a little morning sun and the edge stays golden; push it into deep shade and the gold quietly turns green-tinged cream. Neither is wrong. Choose the effect you want.

Like Patriot, this is a variety with real substance, meaning thick, leathery leaves that stand up to weather and make slow, discouraging chewing for slugs and snails. Resistant is the honest word, not immune, but among a hundred hostas this is one of the sensible choices for a garden where slugs hold committee meetings.

What to Plant with Hosta Wide Brim

Pair the gold edge with foliage that moves: the glossy, arching fronds of Japanese Lace Tassel Fern catch the same low light. For sheer scale behind it, Hosta Sum and Substance turns the colour scheme gold from top to bottom. Wide Brim also does the classic job the RHS recommends hostas for: underplanting roses, hiding their bare ankles below a shrub rose from our shrub rose collection.

Why Buy Your Hostas from Us?

Because we pot ours on into 3L and 5L sizes before they leave, your Wide Brim arrives as a genuine clump, not a promise. Which? Gardening readers voted us Best Plant Supplier, and every plant carries our guarantee. If a hosta ever disappoints, we make it right.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hosta Wide Brim slug resistant?

Resistant, yes: the thick, puckered leaves are hard work for slugs and usually stay presentable all season. No hosta is slug-proof, so keep pots ringed with copper and use nematodes in spring where pressure is heavy.

Does Hosta Wide Brim prefer sun or shade?

Partial shade is ideal. A couple of hours of morning sun keeps the gold margin at its brightest; hot afternoon sun and dry soil scorch it. In deep shade the plant thrives but the margin ages creamier.

What is the difference between Hosta Wide Brim and Patriot?

The margin colour and the centre. Wide Brim has blue-green leaves edged gold-to-ivory; Hosta Patriot has olive-green leaves edged pure white and takes a little more sun. Both hold the AGM; many gardeners plant the pair.

Do hostas flower?

They do. Wide Brim sends up pale lavender funnels on 60cm stems in mid to late summer, and bees visit them keenly. The foliage is the show, though; snip the spent stems and nobody misses them.

Do deer eat hostas?

Sadly yes, hostas are palatable to deer and rabbits, so in deer country grow them in netted areas, courtyards or pots near the house. Slug resistance, which Wide Brim has, is a different battle entirely.

Do you sell hostas at your nursery in Somerset?

You can order online and collect from Castle Cary whenever suits you: your plants are picked and held ready, with no delivery charge.