Now is the ideal time to shop for hostas. In midsummer, container-grown plants in local nurseries will be in full leaf so you can get a good idea of what the different varieties will look like. Liberated from the pot, however, and growing in good garden soils, the leaves will get up to twice as large. Hosta leaves come in a broad range of solid colors, from blue-gray to deep green to light green or gold. Blue hostas often have a soft, waxy bloom, especially early in the season.
Some green leaves are very shiny.
Variegation can be white, cream or yellow and can occur on the edges of the leaves, in the centers of others or else be streaked throughout the leaf. The commonest leaf shape is heartlike, but some cultivars have narrow, straplike leaves. Mix all these factors together and you get an idea of why plant breeders are having such fun with this group of plants. Today, nurseries grow and sell selections from about 10 different species and their hybrids. There are about 400 cultivars in the trade and the number is growing rapidly.