Normally, we think of a hosta garden as being a shade garden so it would seem that this would not be a great place for most flowering bulbs which fall into the full sun category. However, if the shade is provided by deciduous trees, then the garden is actually a full sun garden until the leaves come onto the trees. This can be late in the season for trees such as oaks so the bulbs have time to emerge, flower and restore the energy in the bulb before the shade develops.

A group of bulb plants called ephemerals are highly adapted to the shade environment. They come up early in the season, do their job and then disappear as the heat of the summer approaches. Many of these plants come originally from the woodlands and are fully adapted to the conditions in the typical shade garden.