Gardening Plants & Flowers Perennials

12 Types of Variegated Hosta to Plant in Your Yard

Hosta 'Frances Williams' variegated green and yellow leaves clustered together

The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

Hostas, also known as plantain lilies, are shade-loving perennials grown for their impressive foliage. There are over 70 hosta species and hundreds of hybrids and cultivars. Many hostas have impressive two-toned variegated foliage that can be patterned, streaked, or bordered with a lighter or darker color. In the summer, hostas produce multiple lily-like, tubular-shaped purple, lavender, or white blooms borne on scapes. Scape height varies from cultivar to cultivar.

Hostas are toxic to cats and dogs.

Below are 12 variegated hostas that add interest to areas with dappled, partial, or full shade in your yard.

  • 01 of 12

    Frozen Margarita Hosta

    'Frozen Margarita' Hosta foliage close up

    Grace Cary / Getty Images

    This fast-growing, vigorous hosta has shiny green leaves with a thin creamy white margin. Fragrant, almost white flowers appear in early summer. The leaves develop a more chartreuse color in deep shade.

    • Name: Frozen Margarita hosta (Hosta x 'Frozen Margarita')
    • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-8
    • Flower Color: White
    • Light: Partial shade, full shade
    • Mature Size: 16-18 in. tall, 18 in. wide
  • 02 of 12

    Wide Brim Hosta

    Hosta 'Wide Brim' also known as plantain lily

    TonyBaggett / Getty Images

    A perpetually popular variegated hosta, this variety grows moderately fast as a clump of foliage. It features large puckered dark green leaves with wide yellow irregular margins and slender spikes of lavender flowers in the summer.

    • Name: Wide Brim hosta (Hosta x 'Wide Brim')
    • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-8
    • Flower Color: Lavender
    • Light: Partial shade, full shade
    • Mature Size: 18-24 in. tall, 24-36 in. wide
  • 03 of 12

    Hosta 'Remember Me'

    Close up of Hosta 'Remember Me' foliage

    Tracy Packer Photography / Getty Images

    A striking, medium-sized hosta with bright yellow leaves and irregular green margins tinged with blue in the spring. Moving into summer, the center of the leaves turns a lighter yellow or even creamy white. A slow grower, 'Remember Me' can be more challenging to establish than some varieties, so it isn't the best choice for hosta newbies.

    • Name: Remember Me hosta (Hosta x 'Remember Me')
    • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-8
    • Flower Color: Lavender
    • Light: Partial shade, full shade
    • Mature Size: 12 in. tall, 18 in. wide
  • 04 of 12

    Revolution Hosta

    Hosta 'Revolution' foliage close up

    Purdue9394 / Getty Images

    This medium-sized hosta forms an attractive, upright mound. The creamy-white center of the foliage features dark green speckles, and the dark green margins offset the creamy leaf center for a visually balanced look. Pale lavender flowers appear in July.

    • Name: Revolution hosta (Hosta x 'Revolution')
    • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-8
    • Flower Color: Lavender
    • Light: Partial shade, full shade
    • Mature Size: 18 in. tall, 24 in. wide
    Continue to 5 of 12 below
  • 05 of 12

    Captain's Adventure Hosta

    Hosta plant 'Captain's Adventure' in summer cottage garden

    Marina Vedernikova / Getty Images

    The foliage of this sport (genetic mutation) of the hosta 'Captain Kirk' changes color dramatically through the seasons and as the plant matures. Its foliage starts off chartreuse and quickly develops a variable watermarked appearance with creamy-white margin and darker green streaking in-between. The lavender flowers in midsummer attract hummingbirds.

    • Name: Captain's Adventure Hosta (Hosta 'Captain's Adventure')
    • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-8
    • Flower Color: Lavender
    • Light: Partial shade, full shade
    • Mature Size: 14-16 in. tall, 18-24 in. wide
  • 06 of 12

    Patriot Hosta

    Hosta 'Patriot' foliage

    Rvo233 / Getty Images

    Here is another hosta variety that came about as a sport, this one from the popular 'Francee' cultivar. It has a compact growth habit and more heat tolerance than other popular varieties. The glossy, dark green foliage has a corrugated texture and a painted white irregular margin.

    • Name: Patriot hosta (Hosta x 'Patriot')
    • USDA Hardiness Zones: 4–8
    • Flower Color: Lavender
    • Light: Partial shade, full shade
    • Mature Size: 12–18 in. tall, 20–32 in. wide
  • 07 of 12

    Rainbow's End Hosta

    Hosta 'Rainbows End' foliage close up

    SteveDeming / Getty Images

    The foliage of this compact variegated hosta is already eye-catching but when it receives a few hours of daily filtered sunlight, the brightest colors stand out even more. With dark green edges, the inner leaves have varying degrees of bright yellow and green streaks. In the summer, the yellow streaks can turn a creamy white shade, This cultivar is popular for gardens where slimy visitors are a problem because the leaves are resistant to slug damage.

    • Name: Rainbow's End hosta (Hosta x 'USPP 17,251')
    • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-9
    • Flower Color: Dark lavender
    • Light: Partial shade, full shade
    • Mature Size: 12 in. tall, 24 in. wide
  • 08 of 12

    Magic Island Hosta

    Hosta Magic Island on bark mulch

    Mkovalevskaya / Getty Images

    For a small to medium hosta, consider this sport of the hosta cultivar 'Catherine' with a compact, mound-forming growth habit. It has thick leaves featuring a vibrant yellow center and an irregular blue-green margin. As the summer progresses, the center changes to a creamy green shade, and the outer margin widens. Magic Island hosta is often favored for its slug-resistance.

    • Name: Magic Island hosta (Hosta 'Magic Island')
    • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-9
    • Flower Color: Lavender
    • Light: Partial shade, full shade
    • Mature Size: 10-14 in. tall, 16-20 in. wide
    Continue to 9 of 12 below
  • 09 of 12

    June Hosta

    Hosta 'June' foliage

    SteveDeming / Getty Images

    This award-winning hosta is a popular sport of the well-known 'Halcyon' cultivar. The thick foliage forms in dense clumps and has dark green margins with a hint of blue. The amount of sunlight this hosta receives controls the leaf centers: medium gold when exposed to more sunlight and chartreuse if planted in more shade. The heavy leaves are slug-resistant. This hosta blooms in mid to late summer.

    • Name: June hosta (Hosta x 'June')
    • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-8
    • Flower Color: Pale bluish-lavender
    • Light: Partial shade, full shade
    • Mature Size: 12-15 in. tall, 30 in. wide
  • 10 of 12

    Frances Williams Hosta

    Leaf of a Frances Williams Hosta Plant

    The Spruce / David Beaulieu

    One of the all-time favorite variegated hostas, 'Frances Williams' has large heart-shaped leaves with a puckered texture and prominent veins. The irregular greenish-yellow margins turn a creamy white as the plant matures, and they surround a center with a blue-green tint. Prolific spreaders, they can grow to be five feet wide.

    • Name: Frances Williams hosta (Hosta sieboldiana 'Frances Williams')
    • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-8
    • Flower Color: White, lilac
    • Light: Partial shade, full shade
    • Mature Size: 1.5–2 ft. tall, 4–5 ft. wide
  • 11 of 12

    Francee Hosta

    Francee Hosta foliage

    The Spruce / Adrienne Legault

    Another popular cultivar, 'Francee' has dark green foliage with white margins and a dense, mounding growth habit. Unlike some types, this hosta doesn't experience significant changes in the color of the leaves during its growing season. It has a fairly quick growth rate, taking around five years to fully mature.

    • Name: Francee hosta (Hosta x 'Francee')
    • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-9
    • Flower Color: Lavender
    • Light: Partial shade, full shade
    • Mature Size: 1-2 ft. tall, 3-4 ft. wide
  • 12 of 12

    Liberty Hosta

    Hosta 'Liberty' planted in the ground with other flowers around it

    SteveDeming / Getty Images

    If you are looking for a large hosta with an upright growth habit (and you don't mind that it is slow to establish), take a look at this variegated cultivar. The blue-green leaves have a wide, irregular yellow margin that becomes more creamy as it matures. A clear bonus is that the thick foliage is remarkably slug-resistant.

    • Name: Liberty hosta (Hosta x 'Liberty')
    • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-8
    • Flower Color: Lavender
    • Light: Partial shade, full shade
    • Mature Size: 2 ft. tall, 3 ft. wide

Learn More

If you want to create a dramatic impact in your garden, combining variegated hostas with non-variegated varieties is a good option. Note that not all hostas need shade, there are also types that can grow in the sun. And while hostas make a good ground cover because they keep weeds at bay, snails and slugs are common pests that love to chew holes in hosta leaves. Find out more about selecting suitable hosta varieties and protecting your plants from unwanted visitors:

The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Hosta. ASPCA.