Hosta 'Flavocircinalis'

Hosta 'Flavocircinalis': Puckered Blue With a Gold Ring

Try saying 'Flavocircinalis' three times fast. Now try ignoring those cupped blue leaves with their wild gold edges. YOU CAN'T DO EITHER. This hosta wins the spelling bee just by sitting there.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Hosta 'Tokudama Flavocircinalis', often sold as Hosta tokudama 'Flavocircinalis'
• Common Name: Plantain Lily, Hosta
• Height: 35–45 cm (14–18 in)
• Spread: 90–120 cm (3–4 ft)
• Flowers: Near-white
• Bloom Time: Midsummer (July)
• Foliage: Thick, rounded, cupped and heavily corrugated blue to blue-green leaves with an irregular golden yellow margin
• Features: Good slug resistance

Where to Plant: It shines in the middle of a shady border or as a specimen where you can see the texture of the leaves up close. Its slow growth makes it a good long-term plant for a tidy, low-fuss shade bed.

Companion Plants: Brunnera 'Sea Heart' opens blue flowers in April and May at 30 cm, long before the hosta flowers. Rodgersia aesculifolia adds bold leaves and cream flowers at 90 to 120 cm in June and July. Eurybia macrophylla brings lavender flowers in August and September at 60 to 100 cm. All three like shade to partial sun, so the bed carries on from spring to early fall.

Plant Care: Plant it in moist, rich, well-drained soil with compost mixed in. Shade or gentle morning sun keeps the blue at its best. It grows slowly, so expect it to take a few years to fill out. Water deeply during dry spells, especially in its first seasons. Deer and rabbits like hostas, so protect it where they visit. Remove the flower stems after blooming and clean up the leaves after a hard frost. It rarely needs dividing; leave it alone and let it mature.

History: This hosta comes from Japan, where botanist Fumio Maekawa described it around 1940, and it was long treated as a form of Hosta tokudama. The name is Latin: flavo means yellow and circinalis refers to a ring, describing the gold margin.

Final Thoughts: Thick, slug resistant and easy. Just point at it at the garden centre if you can't pronounce it. WE WON'T TELL.