HOSTAS are plants that are easy to fall in love with. Yet like many a romantic liaison, they can also prove frustrating and ultimately heartbreaking.
They seduce you with their foliage, leaves that are sometimes variegated and range in colour from a near yellow to a green so deep it appears blue.
The leaves' shape ranges from a pointed lance, through ovate, to almost round, with a texture that can be smooth or crinkled.
There are flowers, usually white or purple and scented, but they are secondary to the foliage, which emerges from the earth pointed, fang-like, before unveiling itself as spring advances.
The leaves are what gives this shade-tolerant plant its character; hostas sit firmly in 'architectural plant' category.
They're not showy or pretty, and with a couple of notable exceptions that we'll come to, are not especially good for wildlife.
Exotic without being incongruous, eye-catching but not enough to stop you in your tracks, they can be diva-like demanding or as forgiving and reliable as an old Labrador.
It's all about finding the right one - and there are thousands of varieties to choose from - then putting it in the right place.
But first, it's impossible to talk about hostas and not mention slugs and snails.
Those very same leaves that seduced you into parting with your money at the garden centre may well turn out to be the equivalent of a gastropod's Michelin star meal.
It's unlikely you'll see slugs or snails actually munching on your hosta but you'll see the damage. Locust-like, they will strip your lush, prized leaves overnight, leaving a frame of munched stems and a plant that's likely to die a slow death.
So what can you do to avoid such a scenario?
My first recommendation would be to find a hosta that's been reared for a couple of years at an independent nursery in Ireland and hasn't been too pampered.
I could probably get my greenhouse painted professionally with the money I've spent over two decades on hostas yet there's a handful in the garden, most of them in copper-gilded pots, still containerised after many years, due a fear that they would perish if planted in terra firma.
Varieties with thicker leaves tend to be less susceptible to mollusc attack but there are measures you can take to reduce the threat from slugs and snails, such as surrounding your plants with a copper ring or deploying an environmentally-friendly liquid control, such as a nematode solution.
Old style slug pellets end up killing more than their intended target and should be avoided. You can also remove by hand any slugs and snails in the vicinity.
Containerising your hostas will help make them more secure and the addition of WD40, copper tape or petroleum jelly around the rim more cost effective.
Whether in pots or planted directly into the earth, hostas will benefit from a modest feed and being well-watered.
Recommended varieties include the 'Dream Weaver', which has heart-shaped leaves that are pale yellow with a blue-green margin. 'Invincible', as the name suggests, has glossy olive green leaves that are more resistant to slug and snail attack, but what you gain in reassurance you tend to lose on impact.
For more interesting leaf shapes check out 'Praying Hands', 'Blue Mouse Ears' and 'Queen Josephine'.
