If you’ve shopped for perennials at BB Barns Garden Center, then you know we major on hostas. There’s a reason for that. Our perennial buyer, Chris Stone, loves her hostas. It wasn’t always true love, though. Like many who move to Western North Carolina, when she and husband Pat bought their “forever home” (their affectionate term for their charming mountain home), Chris was discouraged. Her previous job was crew leader at Epcot’s Morocco Pavilion. In Chris’ words, “All hot colors, reds, oranges, Tiffany roses, purples.” From the sunny land of Morocco, aka Orlando, she had to adjust to her new elevation (2800′), shade, and the fact that she now lived on the side of a cliff.
Sound familiar? In our top ten questions asked to the Outside Sales Staff at BB Barns, right up there in the top five is, What do you plant on a bank?
If you know our red-headed Chris, then you won’t be surprised that for her, step one was to change the topography. Six years, 25 dump trucks of dirt, and 100 tons of rock later, she had the nickname ‘The Dirt Girl’ (dubbed by the men hauling the dirt), and no longer a cliff, but a fairly steep bank to create her garden on.
Now, brick pathways traverse the embankment, and hostas and Japanese maples are the showstoppers of the garden. Chris did what BB Barns encourages their customers to do. No, not the dirt hauling and rock carrying. But, instead of yet another “Wall of Juniper” for slopes, treat that sloped space as part of the landscape. Plant trees and shrubs, and Chris would say, hostas.
Hostas seem to be that plant that is either loved or hated in the garden. Chris believes it’s lack of popularity with some is because we’re unfamiliar with all the cultivars and uses. Hostas are great on slopes (if you can duck-walk up it, you can plant it), can fit into almost any niche in the garden, in sun or shade (depending on type), are a perfect way to cover up the dying foliage of spring bulbs, have late summer into fall blooms, and can be be massed for show or planted separately as specimens. Chris has grown the hosta section at the store to include her now favorite mini hostas. But, the best thing about hostas? Their zone. Most are zoned 4-9, many are 2-9. That’s like, Denali to Charleston. Talk about versatility.
When Chris first arrived at BB Barns, she thought she’d work there until she was finished landscaping her “forever home.” But, as all good gardeners know, no garden is ever done. Her hostas may shine in the garden, but Chris fell in love with conifers, grasses, and Japanese maples (16 of those to be exact), too.
Morocco is a long way away from Western North Carolina. Hot tropical colors have been replaced with cool mountain hues, but if there is anyone who now knows what can be planted on a shady bank, that is well above Epcot’s sea level, Chris Stone is it. Who wouldn’t want to mimic her garden?
Header picture: ‘Lady in Red’ lacecap hydrangeas; a great choice for a slight, shady slope.