Gardening: Hosta care and keeping, part 1

Hostas, grown primarily for their foliage, have been a popular border plant on the prairies for decades. Forming graceful mounds, their leaves are large and textured. In blue, yellow or green, they are often variegated with white or cream. There are over 50 species and thousands of varieties, with new introductions every year.
All are native to Japan, China or Korea, where they have been cultivated for centuries. In the early 1600s, Engelbert Kaempfer, a physician with the Dutch East India Compa