In “How to Use Hostas in Garden Design,” home gardener Delphia Johnstone introduced us to her lush Zone 7b North Vancouver garden. The garden has been three decades in the making and was started from a practically blank canvas. Delphia wanted her garden to be an oasis—an escape from the world—and therefore tried to create a calm and soothing color palette of plants with soft yellow, blue, green, and white foliage. Hostas (Hosta spp. and cvs., Zones 3–8) were a natural fit for this design scheme. First, Delphia made some structural changes so that her garden would be more hospitable to growing hostas. Then she found the best location for each of them to take center stage. Below, we break down the plants in two areas of Delphia’s garden. One is a shot of her sunny lawn and surrounding plantings, in which more-structural evergreen plants are at the forefront. The second is a secluded nook in a shadier part of the garden where hostas are the stars. For more plants from Delphia’s garden, check out some of her all-time favorite hostas.

Garden overview with fountain

1. ‘Red Tip’ mountain plum pine (Podocarpus lawrencei ‘Red Tip’ syn. P. alpinus ‘Red Tip’, Zones 7–10)
2. ‘Autumn Leaves’ heuchera (Heuchera ‘Autumn Leaves’, Zones 4–9)
3. ‘Chocolate Box’ podocarpus (Podocarpus ‘Chocolate Box’, Zones 7–10)
4. ‘Espresso’ spotted geranium (Geranium maculatum ‘Espresso’, Zones 5–8)
5. Willow-leaved blue star (Amsonia tabernaemontana, Zones 3–9)
6. Pygmy Norway spruce (Picea abies ‘Pygmaea’, Zones 3–8)
7. ‘Blue Clips’ Carpathian bellflower (Campanula carpatica ‘Blue Clips’, Zones 3–9)
8. ‘Moudry’ black fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Moudry’, Zones 4–10)
9. Autumn Joy sedum (Hylotelephium ‘Herbstfreude’, Zones 3–9)
10. ‘Degroot’s Spire’ arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Degroot’s Spire’, Zones 3–8)
11. Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora, Zones 7–9)
12. Japanese stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia, Zones 5–8)

Hosta collection

1. Shredded umbrella plant (Syneilesis aconitifolia, Zones 4–8)
2. ‘Inniswood’ hosta (Hosta ‘Inniswood’, Zones 3–8)
3. ‘Yellow Boa’ hosta (H. ‘Yellow Boa’, Zones 3–8)
4. Asian virginsbower (Clematis florida, Zones 6–9)
5. ‘Love Pat’ hosta (H. ‘Love Pat’, Zones 3–8)
6. ‘Monashee Blue Cup’ hosta (H. ‘Monashee Blue Cup’, Zones 3–8)
7. ‘Orange Marmalade’ hosta (H. ‘Orange Marmalade’, Zones 3–8)
8. ‘Coconut Custard’ hosta (H. ‘Coconut Custard’, Zones 3–8)
9. Upside down fern (Arachniodes standishii, Zones 4–8)
10. ‘Degroot’s Spire’ arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Degroot’s Spire’, Zones 3–8)
11. ‘Gentsch White’ Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis ‘Gentsch White’, Zones 4–8)

Diana Koehm is the assistant editor for Fine Gardening.

Photos: Doreen Wynja

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