In a genus defined by its foliage diversity, Blue Mouse Ears occupies a special place. At six to eight inches tall, it is a miniature, but miniature is not the same as diminutive: the rounded, thickened leaves have a sculptural quality that holds the eye even at a distance. Each leaf curls inward along its midrib, giving the plant the rounded, slightly cupped form that earned it its name. The color is blue-green to gray-green, the result of a waxy surface coating that also helps the thick leaves withstand drought better than most hostas can claim. Violet flowers with lavender stripes appear in midsummer on scapes eight to twelve inches tall, adding a soft vertical note to what is otherwise a low, spreading mound.

Blue Mouse Ears is equally at home in a rock garden, a container, or tucked at the front of a shaded border where its compact scale can be properly appreciated. It prefers evenly moist, well-drained, acidic soil in partial to deep shade, and should be shielded from wind. Like all hostas, it benefits from division every few years in spring or fall to keep the clump tidy and vigorous. Its parentage is unknown, which adds a certain mystique to a plant that has found its way into an extraordinary number of gardens.