Red October Hosta

Hosta - Red October - Hosta’s are popular for providing bright color in the shade with magnificent foliage and Red October is no exemption. The Hosta Red October are strikingly bright owing to their red stalks that make it truly of a kind and is considered to be the best amongst the red stalked hostas. It is one of the highly sought after plant for the collectors. It is immensely popular amongst beginner gardeners.

The Hosta Red Octobers belong to the family Liliaceae and are herbaceous perennials. The Red Hosta is considered amongst small to medium hosta and has a height, which usually range from 0.75 feet to 2 feet and spread around 1 to 2 feet. It grows in an arching mound.

The shape of the leaves is narrow with a length of 8 inches and a width of 3.5 inches. The color of the leaves is dark bluish green on the top and white color underneath. The most interesting things about these red hostas which gives it a strikingly beautiful appearance is its heavily dappled red colored stalks with the red color fading into the leaf as if bleeding into the leaves.

The bloom time of the flowers is during late summer, that is, from August to September. The funnel shaped, pale lavender color of the flowers, in thick racemes, appear on the dark purplish red colored stems gives it a stunning appearance against the red scapes. However the red hostas are best noted for their red stem and are not popular for their flowers.

Ideally Red October Hosta should be planted in the part or full shade shade. It is a low care perennial and is amongst one of the most popular landscape plants; hence tubs and pots in shades are its excellent growth conditions. However it can endure some amount of direct sunlight. The best performance of the red hosta can be seen when planted in full shade.

The red hosta required medium water and hence should be watered everyday. Especially during its growing season it needs constant watering. The ideal place to apply water is to the soil below the leaves. Just as for any other hosta, it should also not be over watered which can prove damaging for the plant.

The red hosta can be easily grown and can stand a vast range of soil conditions. To note best performance of the red hosta, it should be planted in soil that is rich, moist and organic in nature.

Dividing the plant is required during the spring and the autumn season. Dividing the plant is easiest during early spring when the leaves have not yet developed.

The problems that are commonly faced in Red Hostas are the attack of slugs and snails on the foliage. They chew jagged holes into the leaves. In any case they are not checked properly it might cause severe damage during a reasonably small period of time. Amongst the less frequent problems are leaf spots and crown rot. Usually, hostas remain pest-free and are therefore considered amongst garden perennials that require low maintenance. Strong winds or hail storms can cause serious damage to the leaves, mostly for exposed plants.

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