Hosta 'Jurassic Park'

Hosta 'Jurassic Park': Dinosaur-Sized Leaves for the Back Row

Enormous, heavily corrugated blue-green leaves that look like they were here before the house. 'Jurassic Park' is the closest thing to a dinosaur you can legally keep in the backyard. BRING A SAFARI GUIDE.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Hosta 'Jurassic Park'
• Common Name: Plantain Lily, Hosta
• Height: 75–100 cm (30–40 in)
• Spread: 180–270 cm (6–9 ft) at full maturity
• Flowers: Pale lavender bells on scapes about 1 m (3.5 ft) tall
• Bloom Time: Midsummer (July to August)
• Foliage: Very large, broadly oval blue-green leaves with heavy corrugation and thick substance

Where to Plant: Give it the back of a big shade border, a spot under a high tree canopy, or a corner where one plant needs to fill a lot of space. It makes a strong single specimen, and its thick leaves hold up better to slugs, but protect it if deer and rabbits visit your yard.

Companion Plants: Astilbe 'Fanal' gives red plumes at 60 cm in June and July, a bright splash in front of this giant hosta's huge leaves. Hakonechloa macra makes a soft, arching grass at 30 to 45 cm along the edge, a fine texture against the hosta's bulk. Uvularia grandiflora opens yellow bells in April and May, giving the bed colour while the hosta is still emerging. All of them grow happily in full shade to part sun.

Plant Care: Plant in part sun to full shade, in rich, moist, well-drained soil. Mix compost into the planting hole. Water deeply through its first season and during dry spells after that. Morning sun is fine; hot afternoon sun can scorch the leaves. Space it generously. Giant hostas take several years to reach full size, and this one keeps getting bigger. Remove the flower stems after bloom if you like a tidy look, and clear the leaves after a hard frost. It rarely needs dividing. If you want more plants, divide in early spring as the shoots appear.

History: Rod Lysne of Northern Grown Perennials in Wisconsin registered 'Jurassic Park' in 2006, from a cross between two unnamed seedlings raised in the breeding program of Chet and Cynthia Tompkins. Its registration projected a mature clump about 100 cm (40 in) tall and nearly 3 m (9 ft) wide, which explains the name.

Final Thoughts: Give it shade and serious room. Small children may need supervision around it. THE FENCE IS FOR THE NEIGHBOURS' PROTECTION.