garden adventurer WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY L.A. JACKSON
August Lilies: The Scent-sational Hostas
122 AUGUST 2021
August Lily
WHEN THERE IS a need for foliage plants with visual elegance to doll up semi-shady spots in the landscape, gardeners often turn to hostas. They are durable summertime performers that can be counted on for lasting visual interest with their various textures and subtle hues. However, starting in August, something weird happens — some hostas seem to want even more attention, so they stretch long stalks above their foliage and begin to flower. And not only are these blooms welcome sights for eager eyes in the perennial shade garden that typically goes into a flowerless funk during the high heat of a scorching summer, but the nose knows of their presence as well because they are also fragrant. Wait…hostas that bloom in the late summer? And they’re fragrant? Welcome to the nifty niche of hostas often called, appropriately, August lilies. I’m not breaking any new ground here. These so-called August lilies are old-school hostas. They first originated in southern China and migrated to America in the early 1800s. Botanically tagged as Hosta plantaginea, it was an instant hit in the Southeast due to its heat tolerance and ability to cast a scented spell in gardens on the warm afternoons of waning summers. As with many plants that become popular with gardeners, H. plantaginea has been tinkered with by horticultural breeders looking for improvements, but mutated and hybridized forms still mainly retain the good ol’ August lily trait of late-blooming, scented flowers. White is the typical color of these bell-shaped beauties, but some are infused with light purple hues. Although many variations have been created, today there are only about two dozen selections of August lilies generally available to the gardening public, but this doesn’t necessarily make them hard to find. Heck, I bought ‘Royal Standard,’ which has been around for ages, from a big-box home improvement store. Newer August lily selections can be found with minimal searching, and include ‘Guacamole’ with its sassy avocado-colored leaves, ‘So Sweet’ that shimmers in shades of cream and green, and ‘Sugar Babe;’ a minute, variegated hosta with maximum nose appeal from its scented, purple-streaked blossoms. Online hunting will find plenty of fragrant hostas for sale, of course, but try local garden centers first, as our area nurseries know well of the dreamy eye and olfactory appeal of these enchanting August lilies.
