Patriot Hosta Plant Taxonomy:

The taxonomy of a plant is sometimes extraordinarily convoluted. Not so with this standout, for which the taxonomy is mercifully straightforward: the botanical name is Hosta 'Patriot' (the latter is the cultivar name). Just flip those two words around to form the common name. "Plantain lily" and "funkia" are old common names for hosta but are rarely used now.

Plant Type:

This foliage plant is an herbaceousperennial.

Characteristics of Patriot Hosta:

A variegated plant and medium-sized, it stands 1 foot tall (or a bit higher at maturity) with a width approximately twice that. It has a mounding habit. Variegation here takes the form of white-colored edges surrounding a green center. The ovate leaves exhibit a wavy edge that, combined with the somewhat rippled surface (on mature plants), gives them quite a bit of character.

In mid-summer it produces lavender flowers, which some people find appealing. Personally, I grow the plant purely for its leaves.

Conditions: Sunlight or Shade?:

Patriot hosta is typically listed as a plant for partial shade, but it is able to take more sunlight than a green or a blue type of hosta.

Provide this ground cover with a well-drained soil, but keep the ground moderately moist. It will thrive in rich earth, so work some compost into the soil.

Regional Information: Where You Can Grow Patriot Hosta:

Plant Patriot hosta in planting zones 3-8.

Landscaping Uses:

As versatile and visually appealing plants, Patriot hostas boast a number of potential functions in your landscaping, including as:

• Groundcovers
• Edging plants
• Shade plants

Due to their shade tolerance, another possible use for them is in the woodland garden. You can also take advantage of the coarseness of their leaves' appearance to inject contrasts in texture into your plantings.

Care for Patriot Hosta:

Divide Patriot hosta in early spring in order to propagate it or if you feel that it is outgrowing its space. If, like me, you don't care about the flowers, go ahead and deadhead them and let all the energy go to the rest of the plant.

As alluded to above, probably the best way to fertilize this type of plant is with organic soil amendments.

Garden Pests That Plague Patriot Hosta:

These would be the same garden pests that plague the genus as a whole. The diminutive pests that attack them are slugs and snails. At the other end of the spectrum, they are infamous for being deer food: not only do deer eat them, but they are a favorite food of these big, mammalian pests.

A Sporting Breed?:

Patriot hosta is a popular sport (mutation) of a plant that was (and is), itself quite popular: namely, 'Francee' hosta (not to be confused with 'Frances Williams'). The American Hosta Growers association puts out an award every year for the best plant of the year, and Patriot hosta scored the victory in 1997.

What's the Difference Between Minuteman and Patriot?:

'Minuteman' is another variegated specimen with a green center and white margins. It is very similar to Patriot hosta. The color of Minuteman's leaf centers may be a slightly darker green, plus the leaves may be a bit thicker. But unless you're a diehard aficionado of this genus, the differences are so slight that it probably is not going to make a difference to you which one you choose to grow.

If, however, you are going to begin a collection of hosta plants and will be putting time and energy into keeping all the different types straight in your mind, I can't emphasize enough the importance of buying plants that have labels and maintaining a close association between each plant and its corresponding label -- at least until you've exercised your identification muscles enough to wing it.

Veteran collectors will tell you how frustrating it is to realize, after the fact, that you really don't have a precise identification on a variety that you've been growing. Making sure the plant that you're buying has a label is step one, at least. Step two is keeping track of that label during the process of bringing the plant home and transplanting it into your landscaping. Step three is securing the label such that it will remain as firmly rooted in the soil over the years as your plant is.

The tiny labels plants are sold with at the garden center are flimsy and can easily become dislodged over time and blow away. You may want to follow the steps I present here and make your own plastic plant markers, something more rugged that will stand the test of time.

I emphasize fastidiousness in labeling because it is notoriously difficult to identify many of the varieties of this genus. There are just too many varieties that resemble each other too closely. 'Minuteman' and Patriot hosta provide just one of the many instances of this fact.