here in central AL, i find that growing them in pots allows better exposure to chilly winter temps. some hostas are more tolerant of warmer climates...like guacamole and all the sports.

in the ground, my francis williams survives, but has only pupped once in 8 years. my tokudama didnt even come up last year til may. i guess it was still waiting for winter. it was tiny and deformed.

the ones in pots do much better. it helps with the voles too.

Breeders are working on this limitation all the time, and new 'heat tolerant' introductions appear every year. There are some things you can do to make your first experiments more successful:

1. Pick the right cultivars/hybrids! Give up on the cold loving varieties of your dreams and learn to love the heat tolerant ones.

2. Prepare the site with care.

3. A northern or eastern aspect will offer cooler temperatures all year round.

Attached is a link to the great Plant Delight hosta pages. If you haven't already done so, it will give you a chance to read some descriptions carefully and see a few choices that are out there for you. There are MANY other on line catalogs, though. Any hostas with proven ability to take warmer year-round climates will be bragged on, believe me! You should also do a Google on 'heat tolerant hosta'.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Click here

Kabby, I live in Northern Birmingham and I have about 200 different hostas. I have had very good luck with mine.

Tony

I worked in Baldwin County last summer and saw lots of beautiful hostas. Don't know which variety they were, but they were very nice. If I go back this year, I'll be sure to find out.

I live in East central Alabama near Auburn. In my ignorance I did not know there was a cold requirement and have been happily growing hostas for years. However I do not have named varities.Practically all I have I grew from seed and they are just plain green but are beautiful and bloom wonderfully. I had a varigated one for several years but it eventually succumbed. A large blue also lasted only a few years. Maybe cold was the problem there? Growing hostas in Alabama can be done, but considering what others say, maybe you should be content with the more "weedy" kinds. Mine reseed frequently. Little plants come up everywhere. The siting criteria I used was where there was shade- under a large oak tree.

agree with hayes about growing them in containers. large pots for most of the cultivars works well for years before the need for division and transplanting.
'golden tiara' is one of my best in the ground and is a small hosta. a few others i have that are planted out and growing well are 'so sweet', 'blue angel', 'blue cadet', 'fragrant bouquet'. can't recommend 'great expectations'...tried that one 3 times! a pretty one that resembles it somewhat is 'northern exposure'. it's robust and i have it in a 10-gal. planter.
i am in auburn, which should be similar conditions to your area.

Thank you for all of your great ideas! I know B'ham has wonderful hostas, there is a lady there that grows huge plants from what I have heard. She has BOTH a daylily and hosta named after her.(OLIVE BAILEY LANGDON)
Pots huh? Sigh, if I must, I must. I actually have several nice ceramic pots that my mother made for me. Last fall I got a few hostas that I'm trying in different areas of the yard. I know that the bigger the plant is when I get it the better. Also if I plant in the ground April is a better time than May. That's sad as a lot of the northern growers can't start selling until mid May. But I guess if they are large enough...
By golly if they can be grown in Baldwin County maybe there's hope for me yet. Hayes thanks for the Guacomole and sports idea and Rhizo I appreciate the heat tolerant google search tip too.
So what are some others that I shouldn't even look at? Jeff I appreciate your thoughts on Great Expectations, I haven't tried it yet and now I won't.
I do already have hostas but I can't get any size on them. I have excellent soil but something is going wrong somewhere. And Hayes no vole problem here but the *%&^$ squirrels dig up the new hostas as soon as I plant them. They don't eat them, they just mess up the tags and uproot the plants. A problem with mini hostas that I have planted together. Appreciate all the help!

There are a few southern gardeners on the Hosta forum who can give you some ideas about which hostas do well. You might also look at the Pixie Forest web site. Since they are near Atlanta, they have a good many hostas for the south. I know Atlanta isn't quite as humid and hot as LA, but the Pixie Forest site should give you some ideas. Also, they start selling in March - which would be better suited to your planting schedule than the northern growers. Good luck with finding hostas. They make the landscape so serene.

another idea for ya....i also plant hostas in pots or containers that are partially submerged. i have used cross sections of old hollow building columns to raise the level of the hostas to expose the crowns to more cold. in mass, this makes a great addition to the garden by acting like a mini retaining wall for my steep hillside garden paths. otherwise, they require a little less water and add garden interest. old chimney tiles, concrete pipe, and old metal tubs work well too. i put hardware cloth and/or sharp gravel to keep the voles from tunnelling thru the bottom.

I think i may try putting them in pots then! I never thought of that, i just thought it was my bad dirt in that one particular bed!