First Frost Hosta
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First Frost Hosta
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Probiotic Root Stimulant
Special Features
Botanical Name
Outdoor Growing zone
3-9
Mature Height
1-2
Mature Width
2-3
Sun needs
Partial Sun, Shade
DOES NOT SHIP TO
AK, CA, HI, PR
Forming a substantial mound of leaves up to 3 feet across, the large oval leaves of the First Frost Hosta begin the season a gorgeous blue-gray edged in light yellow, and mature for the summer into dark green with white edges – just like the first frost has touched it. The narrow feathering of the dark green into the white is especially decorative and charming. Standing a little over a foot tall, by late July and into August it is topped by flower stalks carrying flowers that are white with a hint of lavender. A superb easy-care hosta that delivers maturity and good looks quickly and without any special care – what more can we ask for?
- Broad leaves are blue-green with yellow edges in spring
- Summer colors are dark-green with white borders
- Medium-sized plant for mass-planting and edging large beds
- Near-white flowers in August
- Winner of top ‘garden performance’ award
Easy to grow and fast-growing, the First Frost Hosta thrives in morning sun and afternoon shade in cooler zones, and in light full shade everywhere. Plant it in any garden soil that is well-drained and reasonably moist. Adding compost and other organic additives, mixed into the soil and used as mulch, will give you plenty of strong growth, and a healthy plant. Pests or diseases are virtually unknown, but hosta is not suitable where you have issues with deer or rabbits. Cut off the flower stems when the flowers have all faded, and cut back the leaves once frost hits them.
If easy-care and good garden performance count for you, then it makes sense to look for more than just good looks when choosing hosta plants. Winner of the top garden performance award of the American Hosta Society, the Benedict Garden Performance Medal, the First Frost Hosta is almost guaranteed to grow well for you. It will establish quickly, take some neglect in its stride, and make a bold show in very ordinary situations. That is all before we consider its undoubted good looks, and it has plenty of those. A superb, tough variety for ground cover and filling larger spaces, within a few years a plant will be 3 feet across, a solid mound of weed-resisting beauty. Plus, you get two distinct looks to keep things interesting. In spring and early summer admire the powder blue-gray leaves edged in golden yellow, and then in summer and fall be cooled by the frosty combination of deep green and near-white edging. The display of white flowers, flushed with a hint of lavender, in August is pretty special too, and adds even more variety. So get rid of those tired, hand-me-down nameless plants you are growing, and step up with the First Frost Hosta, you won’t regret it.
Growing the First Frost Hosta
Size and Appearance
The First Frost Hosta is a tough, reliable perennial plant that is long-lived, growing back each year from a sturdy root system. The buds at soil level produce rosettes of leaves, forming a mound that is 2 or even 3 feet across, standing over a foot tall. The overlapping leaves make a solid ground cover, and are medium-sized, slightly undulating, with a very solid, dense substance which gives them terrific durability and resistance to stress. Each leaf has a green center which feathers irregularly into a broad white edging. The green in spring is fresh, powdery blue-gray, maturing by summer into a rich deep green. The edging begins clean lemon yellow – wonderful against the blue – and then turns to a frosty white. In late July tall spikes of many flowers rise up, flowering through August with flaring blooms of white flushed with a hint of lavender-purple.
Using the First Frost Hosta in Your Garden
The trouble-free beauty of this plant makes it a natural for planting wherever you need reliable ground cover in shade. Grow it circling around large trees, or along shady pathways. Plant it in front of those evergreens on the shady side of your house, or behind boxwood hedges for a simple but very effective garden bed. Use it as the core of a hosta collection in big beds, growing under trees, in woodlands, or on shady slopes. Wherever you need easy-care but striking planting, the First Frost Hosta is your first call.
Hardiness
Tough and reliable from zone 3 to zone 8, the First Frost Hosta can be grown anywhere, including in hot and humid areas. It is also very cold-resistant, and will grow in the coldest garden.
Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions
In zones 3 and 4 you can grow the First Frost Hosta in full sun if the soil is moist. Otherwise grow it where there is morning sun but afternoon shade, or in light full shade – areas beneath large deciduous trees are perfect. Growing best in rich, moist but well-drained soil, this tough variety will also thrive in ordinary soils, and even in the poorer soils of city gardens, new gardens and almost everywhere that isn’t always dry.
Maintenance and Pruning
Mulch of rich compost every couple of years, spread in late fall after cutting back the leaves, is the secret to superb results. Spread it 2 or 3 inches deep right over the top of the plants. Cut back flower stalks as you need, and apart from that late fall cut-down, nothing more is needed. Usually pest and disease free, but deer can still be a problem.
History and Origin of the First Frost Hosta
For some decades now, hosta varieties have often been grown in test-tubes, in labs, big and small across the country. It is an effective way of producing many new plants, and sometimes produces changes. Patricia Scolnik ran the Breeze Hill Plant Lab in North Carolina at the end of the last century, and discovered several new plants in her lab. The variety she called ‘First Frost’ was found among a batch of the popular blue-leaf variety, ‘Halycon’. It was registered in 2002 jointly with her NC neighbor Bob Soberg, who runs Green Hill Farm, a major hosta breeder. This variety is also sometimes sold under the trademark name of Blue Dew™, a name used by HGTV Home.
Buying the First Frost Hosta at the Tree Center
If you want reliable, easy and attractive, then the First Frost Hosta is the variety you need. It was the 2010 ‘Hosta of the Year’ selection of the American Hosta Growers Association, and regularly appears around #10 the annual popularity polls of members of the American Hosta Society – no mean feat with around 10,000 varieties to choose from. Order this plant while we have it in stock, though, because that kind of popularity means supplies quickly run short, and we won’t have it in stock for long.
