Hosta Smiling Mouse

Hosta 'Smiling Mouse' is a lovely variety with undulate leaves of the miniature hosta 'Frosted Mouse Ears'. This variety has small, thick, blue-green leaves adorned with an undulate margin that transitions from chartreuse green to creamy yellow and finally to white throughout the seasons. It forms a dense and unusual but pleasant mound of foliage and is adorned with well-proportioned lavender coloured flower spikes in summer. Ignored by slugs and snails, this variety will create stylish borders or even an original ground cover when planted en masse in moist shade. It also thrives in pots.

Hosta 'Smiling Mouse' is one of the latest additions to the 'Mouse' series, led by the famous 'Blue Mouse Ears'. It is a deciduous perennial plant belonging to the hosta family, or lily family according to classical classifications. This variety shows a growth habit of small, almost mat-forming circular tufts of foliage with symmetrical vegetation starting from spring. The plant reaches a height of 10 to 20cm (4 to 8in) for the foliage and spreads over 30 to 35cm (12 to 14in). It has excellent longevity. It has small heart-shaped leaves, smooth and very thick, pruinose, strongly undulated at the edges. Some, due to intensely undulated margins, fold in half, resembling a rolled-up tongue. Perfectly proportioned floral stems emerge through the foliage and display bell-shaped flowers of considerable size compared to the plant in July-August. They are pale lavender and carried in fairly compact clusters. This perennial spreads through stolons, similar to strawberries.

The Hosta 'Smiling Mouse' pairs well with helxine, alchemillas, ferns, eucomis in semi-shade, creating an elegant and surprising effect while requiring little maintenance. This dwarf hosta will also thrive in a border, a moist and shaded rock garden, alongside columbines and bleeding hearts, or even with small violets. All hostas grow well in pots and can remain in the same container for several years. Choose a special geranium potting mix to use during the growing season. As long as the foliage is not too dense, watering from the top of the pot is possible. Then place a saucer under the pot, keeping the water level constant in summer.