Highly prized for their clean sculptural leaves in an extraordinary range of colours, hostas are one of the most popular of all foliage plants. Varying in hue from matt blue-grey to glossy apple green, and in size from those no bigger than a thumbnail to others as large as dinner plates, there is a hosta for almost every situation and effect. They look stunning when a number of varieties are planted together as the greens gently complement each other, but are also invaluable as planting companions in the mixed border, associating particularly well with ferns, astilbes, sedges and hellebores. Although generally grown for foliage, hostas also carry equisite stems of delicate flowers.