Dwarf Hosta

Good luck with the Pandoras box. I find this one very difficult/temperamental. Slow for a year or two and then dying off for no reason that I can determine. As with some other dwarf Hostas, they are demanding.

Both pots & plants look great, Todd.

Perhaps, a board or slab that also looks weathered would be in harmony with either. For Japanese-style suiseki, an complementary plant is most appropriate when displaying a stone in a suiban. For a complementary plant with blooms, no more than a single bloom is most appropriate at a height higher than the stand which holds the object (bonsai or suiseki) complemented.

You might consider a deeper mound (ball) of moss over the presently exposed roots to contribute to a cool & refreshing atmosphere in a warm season.

Chris, you got me???

How can you say they both look 'great,' then go on to say what and how they should be changed from/into? I may be missing the wood for the trees but great means to me they are basically perfect as is. So are they both great, or do both still need loads of work?

Hi Mike... Both of Todd's pots & plants are great. His first illustrated complementary plant could arguably be better in summer with attention to a fresh mound of moss covering the roots. Moss (the soil surface) is neither plant nor pot. The second may or may not have attention to its soil surface-- it would be best with attention that finishes the soil surface. Would you leave soil exposed on a bonsai in display?

Since this forum is on display, complementary plants have a place in Japanese-style composition. Todd's first plant has blooms or buds at several heights. Matching the plant to other elements in the composition should consider the height of blooms relative to other objects, as described. It can be accomplished by trimming blooms &/or choice of stand.

Digging up an old thread, but I just noticed it. Anyway, I have a couple but have no idea what cultivar. They were given to me by a club member. Here's a shot from a few years ago.

Yours is probably Hosta venusta, not any particular cultivar.
Iris