Other Names:  Plantain Lily, Funkia

Brand:  Walters Gardens

Description:

An eye-catching and interesting variety featuring large mounds of light green foliage speckled and margined with deep green; near white to pale lavender flowers appear on tall scapes during the mid-summer months; an excellent addition to beds and borders

Ornamental Features

Emperor's New Clothes Hosta features dainty spikes of lavender tubular flowers rising above the foliage in mid summer. Its attractive glossy heart-shaped leaves remain light green in color with showy dark green variegation throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Emperor's New Clothes 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

Emperor's New Clothes Hosta is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover

Planting & Growing

Emperor's New Clothes Hosta will grow to be about 16 inches tall at maturity extending to 21 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 4 feet. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 26 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a slow 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 shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. This plant does not require much in the way of fertilizing once established. 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.