Night before Christmas has big dark green leaves with bright creamy white centers that turn pure white by midsummer. It has thicker leaves and wider green margins than its parent, White Christmas, which makes it sturdier in the garden.
The mound reaches about 18 inches tall and 3 feet wide. Pale lavender tubular flowers rise on 34-inch scapes in mid to late summer. Use it to brighten a dark corner, as a specimen, or massed in a woodland bed.
What it looks like
Large, pointed, heart-shaped leaves with bright creamy white centers that become pure white by midsummer, surrounded by wide dark green margins. Leaves are thick and slightly wavy with a smooth surface. The plant forms a broad mound about 18 inches tall and 36 inches wide. In mid to late summer, scapes about 34 inches tall carry pale lavender tubular flowers above the leaves. At peak the white centers stand out brightly against the deep green edges.
Growing it with lavender
Hostas want shade and steady moisture, the opposite of lavender's hot, dry bed, so give this one a spot under trees or along the north side of the house with ferns and astilbe.
Care
Plant in part to full shade in rich, humus-heavy soil that stays evenly moist but drains well; water deeply during dry spells, especially the first summer. Hardy in zones 3-9. Cut spent scapes after bloom and divide crowded clumps in early spring as the shoots emerge.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Hosta
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Flower color: Pale lavender
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Foliage: Creamy white to pure white center with wide dark green margins
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Growth habit: Broad mound
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Mature size: 18 in tall × 36 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 3–9
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Light: part sun to part shade, full shade
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Bloom start: Mid-July
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Peak bloom: Early-August
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Bloom pattern: Single Flush
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Deer resistance: Susceptible
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Pollinator value: Good
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.
Lavender companion · grow guide
Community Grower Report
