Usually grown for their magnificent leaves, it is not often appreciated that hostas also produce good flowers. Some species and varieties are better than others, but they all flower. The best kinds have slender, shapely flowers and hold them on tall stems, well clear of the foliage. The less successful kinds have short-stemmed, rather dumpy, coarse flowers that are not attractive and these are sometimes removed.

By and large, the flowers look best on plain-leaved kinds; the flowers seem to compete with the striping on variegated leaves, so that the whole thing looks too much. For instance, the pale lilac flowers of Hosta fortuneii look fine on the plain green types but look decidedly messy on the variegated 'Aureo-marginata' form. Part of the problem is that this species does not have shapely flowers, the florets being crowded on the rather heavy stem and too close to the mass of foliage.

In stark contrast is the wonderfully graceful Hosta sieboldii var. alba, which has tall, slender-stemmed white flowers over small light green leaves. The individual flowers are nicely spaced on the stem, where each dainty trumpet flower can be seen. The flowers have the grace and quality of lilies and day-lilies, to which they are related as members of the broad lily family.

The variety 'Royal Standard' has many of the same qualities, fine green foliage and tall white flowers. It has the additional quality of fragrance, passed on by its parent species Hosta plantaginea, and not a feature generally noted with hostas. Two of the best tall-flowered species are Hosta rectifolia and Hosta ventricosa.

The former is often seen as the variety 'Tallboy', with very tall slender stems of pale lilac flowers over long, narrow, pointed green leaves. Although there are variegated forms of Hosta ventricosa, the flowers do not make a very happy association. The green form has dark glossy leaves.