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 Although the colors of hosta
flowers can be quite fetching, they are generally not high on
the list of design considerations when selecting a plant for the
garden. In fact, a fair number of gardeners do not like the
flowers on hostas. They cut the flower scapes off as soon as
they appear. Wow!
To register a hosta, you must describe the
flower color as one of the following: pure white, near white, pale
lavender, medium lavender, pale purple and deep purple. In books,
catalogs and other references, you might see the flowers described
as violet, cream-colored, bluish and other “non-official”
descriptors.
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 H. plantaginea is probably the best example of a hosta with
pure white flowers. Pure white flowers appear on only a few
hosta cultivars or species.
Of the 8,129 hostas in our database that have a designated
flower color, 5% are pure white.
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 Although many hostas
seem to have white flowers, upon close up inspection, they
almost always have a bit of pale lavender mixed in. Flowers of
this color are called near white. Plants with
H. sieboldiana
or H. 'Tokudama' in their background will have this type of
flower color.
Of the 8,129 hostas in our database that have a designated
flower color, 20% are near white.
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 By far, most
hostas have some shade of lavender flowers ranging from the very
pale H. montana types to the pale lavender of H. 'Undulata
Erromena'.
Of the 8,129 hostas in our database that have a designated
flower color, 41% are pale lavender.
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 This is deeper, richer shade of lavender which is found in
such hostas as H. 'Antioch', H.
'Crusader', and H. 'Tall Boy' among others. Hostas from the
Tardiana Group of plants have a distinctive shade of medium lavender in
their flowers that appears to have a hint of blue in them.
Of the 8,129 hostas in our database that have a designated
flower color, 14% are medium lavender.
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 Owing to the
presence of some reddish pigment, a few species of hosta have
purple flowers which range from pale to deep, dark purple.
Of the 8,129 hostas in our database that have a designated
flower color, 18% are pale purple.
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 Several
species including
H. sieboldii,
H. ventricosa,
H. capitata, and
H. venusta have purple flowers in varying
shades.
Of the 8,129 hostas in our database that have a designated flower
color, 3% are near white.
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 Almost all
hosta flowers (except the pure whites) have a couple of colors
in them. In some cases, the second color will form a distinctive
stripe or shading that is especially noticeable when viewed up
close. Others may have translucent tepal margins that give the
effect of a bi-color bloom.
Of the 8,129 hostas in our
database that have a designated flower color, 8% also have
stripes on the tepals.
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