One of my favorite perennial vegetables is Hosta. In this thread I want to document my breeding attempts.
I’ve grown hosta as a spring vegetable for around 8 years. My favorite way of eating it is blanching the shoots (etiolation) like you would rhubarb or asparagus.
I’ve grown a wide range of named clones in different sizes, colors. Hosta is a group with loads of breeding work, but as far as I know only for ornamental purposes. Some selection criteria are connected to growth habit and I want to continue selecting for fast growers and effective ground-cover (as opposed to the more open growth habits).
I’ve tried growing smaller-leaved hosta as some of them are very fast growing and effective ground covers. But I’ve found the crop is less interesting. Large, fat hosta shoots are a much better crop to me.
My full list of selection criteria:
Thick shoots (large leaves)
Vigorous, fast growing
Dense growth habit, effective ground cover
Less saponin content
I don’t care about color or shape of leaves. I will mostly use hosta as shoots and often expose them for etiolation, so color will disappear. My experience is that darker leaved types are easier to grow in shade and part-shade. I’m not so interested in hostas with low clorophyl that can withstand full sun. Part of the attraction of hosta for me is that they can be grown where full sun plants can’t.
Comparison of two clumps of the same clone with one of them having grown without light (etiolation).
One limitation for my breeding project is hosta seed are not that easy to come by! The market is almost entirely for cloned plants. In Europe, I’ve found a few seed on Jelitto. If anyone knows other sources for hosta seed, please write below!
Wow! Thanks, Malte, for posting this. especially the photos! This gives me an idea of how to work with the hostas. I’ve been increasing my hosta population with the intent of using them as food but haven’t tried them yet
I’ve also been saving seeds and attempting to germinate.
So assuming you cut them down to the ground at this point, are they able to catch up and produce flowers and seeds in the same year?
Please post more pictures! I’d especially love to see how you cook them.
I would look to Japan. There are some people that breed hosts there for
food. They make boxes of loose soil and as the shoot comes up the mound on
more soil. This creates very long edible shoots.
@GreenBeard , I like your idea. I’ve seen images of forced hosta in Japan and have found the inspiration to eat them like this from there. I think the method of etiolation could be extended to many other perennial spring shoots. Just like we etiolate belgian endives, cardoon, rhubarb, asparagus, frisée and so on. Lots of leafy vegetable gain a tender consistency from excluding light.
@Naomiupland , I’ve learnt from ornamental hosta growers that established clumps can tolerate total cuttings to the ground annually. Some growers even mow their hosta plantnings (!) to get a second flush of new shoots. The only difference between them and I seems to be that I eat the shoots instead of mowing them down.
I’m encourage to see in your post that the large leaved hostas are good for eating.
I enjoy the ones I have but they are all smaller.
I’ve recently ordered a variety of seeds to try and expand my collection and select for culinary qualities. I got several batches from large leaved parentage because I really like the look of them but wasn’t sure if the larger leaved types would be tougher in texture or anything.
I also got seeds for H. ventricosa as I saw a report of it naturalized fairly close to my area, and H. Plantaginea for its purported ability to regrow through the season after being cut back. (Also scented blossoms are a bonus).
My seeds all came from various eBay sellers, I’m still waiting on some to arrive but I should end up with extras to share if you’re interested. So far that look to be of varying quality so hopefully there will be some successful germination.
Nice, I’ll have a look at ebay too. Hosta seeds are not easy to come by otherwise. I’m in Europe so sending seeds from the US can be a bit of a challenge. But let’s work on this on both sides of the pond and if we make progress, I’m sure we can exchange seed eventually.
Not much help for this year because their inventory is all sold but I remember that Deluth Hosta said they ship over seas. You could check them out in the fall if you’re not able to find seeds more local to you.
I am fairly certain there is a North American hosta society whose annual gatherings feature a meal or set of meal options made entirely of hostas. I remember reading this in Stephen Barstow’s book Around the World in 80 Plants (a must read for any temperate edible forest gardener - true geekery on even fringe things like bistort and sow thistle, for crying out loud). Here is a full page write-up with photos of a guided walk in a well known garden in Vienna (on his ‘Edimentals’ website from 2017):
I couldn’t agree more, that book is a great place to start for anyone interested in perennial vegetables. Stephen is a big inspiration for me too. I think he even visited Japan after the book came out to study spring-forcing hosta. They grow them like that in Japan.
Does Europe restrict import of hosta seeds? I have two kinds; both are large with dark green foliage. They look pretty much the same except one has purple flowers and one has white flowers. The white one is nicely fragrant. They both make lots of seeds and new plants volunteer regularly.
I have a question I’ve asked before on other sites but never got an answer. Are the flower buds and seed pods good and safe to eat, how about young flower stalks? They are produced in abundance and I’m guessing there would be no set back to the plant, like with harvesting the shoots.
The flowers and flowers bud taste good and have several uses in Japanese cuisine. I’ve noted down a simple preparation which is steaming the flower shoots and turning them in sanbaizu (3:2:1 rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce). Don’t have the source though.
As for whether they are safe, to my knowledge no Hosta species have been identified as problematic. There have been several studies on their bioactive compounds and around 80 compounds have been isolated from Hosta.[1]
As for sending seed to the EU - yes, this is complicated. Customs tend to confiscate and destroy any seed they find that does not carry phytosanitary certificated, which are very expensive for small growers to acquire.
[1] Li, R., Wang, M. Y., & Li, X. B. (2012). Chemical constituents and biological activities of genus Hosta (Liliaceae). Journal of medicinal plants research, 6(14), 2704-2713.
I love that book as well! Where on the AHS site does it talk about the Hosta dinner? I’m not seeing it.
Hosta library is a great site with lots of information on all things Hosta but the recipe section is sadly not Hosta centric.
The Hosta with the fragrant white flowers is probably H. Plantaginea or a cross of it. Supposedly they will regrow leaves through the season. I’m interested to see if that trait makes for repeat harvest. If yours are well established give a try and report back!
Most of my Hosta regrows after harvest. Some of the Hosta I harvest most from are H. sieboldiana I believe. I’ve heard some Hosta growers (for ornamental reasons) mow down their plants mid season to get another flush of interesting shoots.
I think they are pretty tough plants. We have some out by the mailbox that the deer often eat but it has been years, and the plants still keep trying to grow back and even manage a bloom once in a while. The same varieties in the shade up by the patio get very large and produce volunteers from seed that I dig up and sell.
We had some in larger ones in pots that got eaten by the deer and neglected during a drought and left sitting without protection over winter. I figured they were dead, but I was cleaning the nursery area the other day and discovered those pots are full of strong healthy-looking hosta shoots about an inch tall.
I still haven’t worked up the courage to eat a big serving of them myself because I don’t trust most of what I read on the internet but finally I’ve found some people who seem more knowledgeable and trustworthy. I’m going to give them a try this year.
Do you harvest more than once per season? My currant established plants (I’m assuming all H. sieboldiana) grow back after I cut the shoots but I haven’t tried more than one round.
I only harvest once per season and generally, I don’t harvest the whole clump. I’d rather have long-lived plants that get bigger every year, so I tend to plant way more hosta than I need.
Some more pictures because people asked for it
Polyculture of Hosta, Siberian purslane and Hablitzia tamnoides in May (Hablitzia eventually covers most of the wall)
Same polyculture a few weeks earlier. Notice how Siberian purslane covers the ground in early spring and then continues to live underneath the Hosta leaves later on.
Easiest and also most common way for me to eat Hosta is steaming the whole shoots and then turned in a flavorful sauce of some sort. This is how spring shoots are most commonly eaten in East Asia:
Another example, which is basically the same thing, just steaming them in a flavorful liquid like a soup, here a spicy coconut soup with rhubarb, mushrooms, coriander and rice:
A third example. It’s the same theme: Just lightly steam the shoots in a flavorful liquid (I usually use salt, acid, fat and some umami or vegetable stock). Served with other spring shoots (fiddle heads), bladdernut flowers, peas and some cheese.
Over the years, I’ve learned to pick Hosta shoots at the right stage. In the beginning, I harvested when the shoots were totally new and tight (like asparagus), but I’ve found they are much nicer when they open up a little bit.
This is a little bit after the perfect stage (the perfect stage is above in the in-situ photo):
I’ll see if I can’t quick find the passage in Barstow’s book to update where I read this (or think I read this). I may be an aging geezer here and misremembered (though, I don’t think I misremember the meal part - maybe just who hosted it?)
