Hostas: The easiest plants to grow

Listen to this radio story (MP3 download) or read below.

Radio interview source: Jennifer Dubindorf, Earth Team coordinator, Natural Resources Conservation Service

My neighbor has a hosta garden that anyone would love to have. She has ginormous varieties growing like crazy on the east side of her house.

Hostas come in a wide range of shapes, colors, sizes, and textures. A hosta plant reaches full maturity in four to eight-years, depending on the variety and their size. The tiniest ones are only a few inches in diameter, while the giant plants will stretch out eight feet.

Not to make your choice any more difficult, but there are nearly 3,000 varieties to choose from!

Expert Jennifer Dubindorf says it's possible to grow them from seeds, but there's no guarantee what color you're going to get because a hosta seed is completely generic.

"It'll come up a variegated, or a solid, or a miniature or a full-size -- they're just kind of weird that way," Dubindorf says. "So by division is the only way to guarantee what your next plant will be."

When hostas are divided, all it takes is one "eye" and one root to start another one. There can be hundreds on one plant, so if your friends have been coveting your garden, divide them up and give your homeless hostas a new place to grow, and plant some more yourself.