Other Names:  Plantain Lily, Funkia

Description:

Quick growing and vigorous, this variety produces dense mounds of long skinny leaves; emerging green with yellow margins, maturing to snowy white margins depending on sun exposure; pale lavender flowers rise above of arching scapes in midsummer

Ornamental Features

Sandhill Crane Hosta features dainty spikes of lavender bell-shaped flowers rising above the foliage in mid summer. Its attractive textured narrow leaves remain green in color with distinctive yellow edges throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Sandhill Crane Hosta is a dense herbaceous perennial with tall flower stalks held atop a low mound of foliage. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Insects

Sandhill Crane Hosta is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Sandhill Crane Hosta will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity extending to 18 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 30 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 30 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in partial shade to full shade. Keep it well away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It may require supplemental watering during periods of drought or extended heat. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Sandhill Crane Hosta is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers and foliage against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.