Hosta of the Day - 'Parhelion'

Hosta 'Parhelion' is a sport of hosta 'Sum and Substance'.   It is light green with a very narrow white margin.  This one is big so if you want one you better make lots of room for it!  I have mine planted in a large planter in front of my living room window.  At the moment it's hidden by hardy geraniums, but once they stop blooming I will thin them out to show off this beauty!

Hosta 'Parhelion' 2009

Hosta 'Parhelion' 2011

Hosta 'Parhelion' 2012 being eaten by my hardy geraniums!

Hosta 'Parhelion' 2012

Shade Plant of the Week - Hardy Geranium

Hardy Geraniums or Cranebill, as some people call it, are a great addition to the shade garden.  They come in a wide variety of colors from white, blue, pink, purple, etc.  Hardy Geraniums are very easy to grow.  Often if you cut them (sometimes I cut them in half) after they bloom they will bloom again later in the season.  My friend, Cheryl, refers to them as the stinky plant, as some still have that smell you come to expect from annual geraniums.  Some varieties are a little more vigorous, such as the Geranium macrorrhizum variety.  The macrorrhizum variety tend to reseed themselves quite easily, but the majority of their roots are above of the ground so they are easy to pull.

Geranium pratense striatum 'Splish Splash'

Geranium macrorrhizum-Bevan's Variety

Geranium phaeum  'Samobor'

Geranium macrorrhizum 'Variegatum'

Geranium macrorrhizum-Bevan's Variety

Geranium ibericum
‘Johnson’s Blue’

Geranium cinereum 'Ballerina'
Very small/miniature geranium