Blue hostas owe their colour to a fine waxy coating on the leaves. In shade that coating lasts longest, so the leaves stay blue well into summer; in sun it melts away and the leaves turn green earlier.
Blue hostas
Many blue hostas have thick, firm leaves, which makes them less attractive to slugs than thin-leaved varieties. Plant them in shade or light shade, in humus-rich soil that stays moist.
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The blue is a layer of wax over a green leaf, and almost everything in the garden either protects that layer or wears it away.
Even with perfect care, most blue hostas look blue-green by late summer. That is their normal rhythm: next spring the new leaves come up blue again.
"Blue" covers a surprising range. Halcyon is powder-blue, Big Daddy has a frosty finish, Blue Angel leans towards blue-grey, Regal Splendor looks almost silver, and varieties such as Sieboldiana and Jurassic Park are blue-green from the start. In shade the deeper, greyer blues look almost dark, while the pale, powdery ones catch the light. Use both: a pale blue in front of a darker one makes a border look deeper.
Hadspen Blue and Blue Cadet stay compact enough for edging and pots, and Fragrant Blue adds scented flowers in summer.
Halcyon remains the benchmark among medium-sized blues, and the American Hosta Society named it Hosta of the Year 2026. For more texture, Love Pat has thick, puckered leaves, and Bullet Proof combines a strong blue with good slug resistance.
Elegans is the classic big blue from Hosta sieboldiana. Abiqua Drinking Gourd, Hosta of the Year 2014, has leaves so deeply cupped that they hold rainwater, while Blue Umbrellas, the giant Jurassic Park and Blue Vision fill the back of a shady border. Leaf shapes differ too: Big Daddy's are round and heavily puckered, Blue Angel's heart-shaped and smoother.
For more light without losing the blue, choose a variety with a cream or white margin. First Frost, a sport of Halcyon, has a cream edge, Blue Ivory a white one, and the giant Regal Splendor frames silvery blue leaves in white. More combinations are in our variegated hostas.
Medium blues such as Halcyon, Bullet Proof and Moody Blues make a calm, even carpet beneath shrubs and deciduous trees. Plant them about 50 cm apart, which means two packs per square metre, and within a few seasons the leaves meet.
Blue looks bluest beside gold. Plant a blue hosta next to a yellow one, for example Halcyon with Sunny Halcyon, its yellow sport, which has the same leaf shape. Fine ferns soften the heavy leaves, and white-flowered shade plants pick up their silvery tone. Find partners among our yellow and gold hostas.
For a pot or the front of a border, choose a miniature such as Blue Mouse Ears. Halcyon is a classic medium-sized blue hosta with thick, powder-blue leaves. For a big statement, choose a large variety such as Blue Angel or Big Daddy, with its round, cupped and puckered leaves.
The blue colour comes from a waxy layer on the leaf. Sun, heat, rain and touching the leaves gradually wear it away, revealing the green leaf underneath. In shade the leaves stay blue longest, often until late summer.
Many blue hostas have thick, firm leaves that slugs find hard to eat, so they usually suffer less damage than thin-leaved varieties. No hosta is completely slug-proof, especially young shoots in spring.
Only a little. An hour or two of morning sun is fine, especially in cooler regions, but in afternoon sun the wax wears off quickly and the leaf edges may scorch. For a sunny spot, a gold or sun-tolerant hosta is the better choice.
Yes, in summer. Halcyon has pale lavender flowers, and large blues such as Blue Angel and Big Daddy carry near-white to pale lavender flowers on tall stems. Moonlight Sonata, Fragrant Blue and Blue Perfection also have fragrant flowers.
No. The colour sits in a fine layer of wax, and wiping, washing or even brushing past them leaves green marks. Let the rain do the cleaning, water the soil rather than the plant, and set blue hostas a little back from busy paths.
Varieties
The best blue hostas range from the miniature Blue Mouse Ears to giants such as Big Daddy and Blue Angel. Their blue comes from a waxy coating that is thickest in spring and wears off in strong sun, heat and heavy rain, so plant them in shade or morning sun and water gently at the base. Varieties with a thick wax coat keep their colour longest.
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Design & companions
Hostas and ferns are a natural pair: both like moist, humus-rich soil in partial or full shade, and the fine, divided fronds of a fern make the broad hosta leaf stand out. Choose ferns that suit your moisture, give each plant its full spacing and keep fast spreaders such as ostrich fern away from small hostas.
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Order and pay now, and your bare-root hostas ship from 1 March. Here is how pre-ordering works and what to expect when your plants arrive.
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