“The American Hosta Growers Association (AHGA) is a group of pros who specialize in hostas. Their ranks include wholesale and retail nurseries — both mail-order and walk-in — plus the growers who…”
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The 2025 Hosta of the Year: Skywriter
The American Hosta Growers Association (AHGA) is a group of pros who specialize in hostas. Their ranks include wholesale and retail nurseries — both mail-order and walk-in — plus the growers who produce starter plants for those nurseries. The AHGA's mission? To get more people excited about gardening with hostas and to share the best care tips out there.
Looking for the 2025 Hosta of the Year Sweepstakes? The contest is over, but keep reading to get to know 'Skywriter'!
Back in 1996, the association started the Hosta of the Year program to help both nursery owners and home gardeners navigate the ever-growing sea of hosta cultivars. Chosen by member vote, the winner has to thrive in every region where hostas are grown. For 2025, the pick is 'Skywriter'.
'Skywriter' is a blue hosta with a semi-upright habit that really flaunts those white leaf undersides and the purple stems they unfurl from. It's considered medium-sized, reaching about a foot and a half tall and four feet wide. The solid blue leaves have ruffled edges and deep corrugation, and that cool blue foliage pairs beautifully with the pale purple flowers that show up in summer.
'Skywriter' was bred by Dan Wols, a Chicago-area dentist who also happens to be a hosta hybridizer. Its family tree includes two deeply blue cultivars — 'Smoke Signals' and 'Neptune' (itself an award winner) — plus 'Marilyn Monroe', a green hosta whose rippled leaves twist to show off white reverses, a nod to the actress's iconic subway-grate photo.
P.J. Beaulier, manager at specialist retailer New Hampshire Hostas, loves pointing out the details that set 'Skywriter' apart — like how it serves up a stunning color combo all by itself: blue leaves on reddish-purple petioles (leaf stems).
"Blue leaves on red petioles — that's just a killer color contrast in the garden, especially with hostas," he says. "The petioles look more purple because of all the wax on the leaf, which is the same thing that gives it that soft blue color." And those ruffled leaf margins? He calls them "extra eye candy" that really draws your eye to 'Skywriter' in a garden setting.
To really make this hosta pop, P.J. suggests adding warm-toned companions to contrast with that soft blue. Specifically, he likes placing a larger yellow hosta behind 'Skywriter' and/or ringing it with yellow-, orange-, or red-leaved coral bells (Heuchera).
'Skywriter' likes the same things all hostas do: protection from harsh sun, porous soil rich in organic matter, a spot in USDA Zones 3 through 8, and regular water — about an inch a week. But that blue color means the sun protection thing is extra important.
"I'd put this hosta in bright morning sun with filtered afternoon shade," P.J. advises. "Too much sun breaks down the wax on the leaf, and that's what kills the blue color."
That said, don't go tucking 'Skywriter' away in some dark corner either. An award-winning plant deserves a spot where you can admire it — and as P.J. adds, "Too much shade can affect the vigor — which is true for most hostas."
