Hosta Lonesome Dove®


iconHosta Lonesome Dove icon ®.  If you're a hosta enthusiast, you'll find Hosta Lonesome Dove® plumb entertaining. 

The nursery folks say that  Hosta Lonesome Dove® is a blue hybrid that starts off more white than blue.  But each year the white center narrows, and the mature Hosta Lonesome Dove® becomes true blue.  Its return every year is also fun to watch because the leaves curl and twist as they grow.  By the time it's at full height, the foliage is layered, adding texture and depth to the plant and the landscape.

I grew up on the Louisiana Gulf Coast and had never even heard of Hostas till we bought a home in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where our front yard was framed with them.  Over the next few years I learned how many varieties there are and how fast the list is growing.  Hosta Lonesome Dove® is a 2006 introduction.

Hans Hansen is the R&D guy at a nursery in Minnesota.  (Who knew anything green could survive that far north? this Southerner asks.)  Hansen has bred at least 10 new hostas, and Hosta Lonesome Dove® is one of them.

Hosta Lonesome Dove ® grows slowly. It will reach a height of 17", and width of 32". In mid-season the clump shows off pale lavender flowers on a 24" stalk. Great companion plants for Hosta Lonesome Dove® are astilbe, fringed bleeding heart, coral bells, Japanese painted fern, and monkey grass.  Butterflies adore Hosta Lonesome Dove®, and it is tolerant of drought, slugs, and hot/cold extremes.  It can stand more light than other blue forms because of its lighter-colored portion so does well in bright shade.

If you have a balcony instead of a lawn, Hosta Lonesome Dove® does well in containers.  It’s impressive in solitary or small plantings, and is riveting in a mass display.

Quick refresher:  Treat Hosta Lonesome Dove® like any blue hosta, except that  you can give it a little more sun.  Plant it with well-amended soil in a hole big enough to let the roots explore their new home.  Feed with a general, balanced fertilizer when you first see leaves, and water off the granules.  The shade you use should be high.  That means NOT under trees whose limbs hug the ground.  (Even my blue hostas were not happy under our gorgeous Japanese maple.) 

Where I live, the rule is that a perennial isn't in the right place unless you've moved it at least three times.

So if you're a hosta lover, Hosta Lonesome Dove® is available on-line from many growers. 
Hosta Lonesome Dove®.  Zones 3-9.