Okay, I did find some information from eHow.com. The article said hostas emerge in the Spring anywhere from late April to early June. Can anyone confirm this?

Here is a link that might be useful: eHow.com

Depends on where you live. That stat may be true for up north,but my hostas start coming up in early March,and this year,almost all of them are up now,due to the warmer-than-normal late winter and spring. BTW,Blue Angel and any of the big blue hostas are always late coming up here. My Blue Angel is peeking thru the leaves now. Phil

Let them sleep as long as they like. If you are zone 6a you don't want them up yet. Do you know what is your average final frost date in your area? Usually a County Cooperative Extension service or a local land grant college will have this information. I'm in zone 5b and my final frost date is usually May 15th. I'd prefer not to have my Hosta fully leafed out until that time. This year they may be earlier than that.

Steve

no we cant give you an answer for your garden...

they will emerge.. when the soil gets warm enough.. down deep enough.. into its root mass.. to trigger growth ...

and how fast the soil warms to depth.. is a function of not just air temps.. but also sun on the soil .. and even bare deciduous trees.. can retard deep warming of the soil ...

if you planted them properly.. you should be able to see the pips or eyes.. right there on the surface.. and know they are fine.. but still inactive..

if you buried that part.. then you may have a long wait ...

did you plant the crown.. or the eyes.. at the soil surface ... ????

ken

I am in zone 5 and about half of my 200 varieties in the ground have started to come up. My Blue Angel isn't showing yet.

You can use your fingers to push a little dirt around to see if you can find some pips. If you do this, do it gently as to not break or damage them. If you have to go down an inch or more to find the crown of the plant then it is planted too deep.

My last frost date is May 10th. They are on the North side of my house, so that soil won't warm up as soon as the South side.
I planted hosta starters last fall. I think I planted the top of the root ball (where the stems and roots connect) almost flush with the top of the ground or maybe a little deeper. It sounds like I just need to wait a while longer. I'll leave them alone and let them sleep and stop worrying.
All this information has set my mind at ease. (I tend to overthink when it comes to gardening. I sometimes worry about my plants like I worry about my children if I don't know where they're at. lol)

I'm in Texas and my Blue Angel is almost fully leafed out, but we've had unseasonably warm weather. Usually the eyes are just starting to come up at this time of year.

bkay

I am in Southwest Ohio and some of mine have started but I just happened to look at my Blue Angel this morning and it has not started yet. You still have a while.
Cher

I'm in the SW corner of Missouri. My Blue Angels are just now starting to come up, they are both about 3 inches, after two days of rain. I expect they will be growing like weeds in the next week if it gets as warm as predictions say it will.

Lots of my hostas are up; many are showing no signs of growth at all yet. They emerge at different times, with some little species NOID first along with the late crocuses, Montana aureomarginata next, which is nearly at full size now, and in my garden usually On Stage is last, around the first or middle of April.

Patience is the key! Don't go digging around too much where you think the crowns might be, sometimes tender new eyes are easily broken off.

Sandy

You should not gauge emergence of hosta next year by what they are doing this year other than the order in which they come up. This Spring is another season that isn't normal just as last Summer wasn't normal. Times are changing and so are the seasons.

None of my large blue or yellow leaved hostas are coming up yet as they shouldn't but did see today that Empress Wu, Sagae, Stained Glass and a few others are.

Scott

I have about 85 varieties in pots here just south of San Francisco. All but about 4 or 5 are up and unfurling. Spring is here. Franknjim is correct about them coming up in about the same order each year. The first ones are always first, and the last ones are always last. The Tokudamas are the slowest here.

-Babka

I am a bit north and east of Franknjim and about half of my hosta are up but only Lancifolia unfurled yet. None of my Blue Angel and kids (Earth Angel and Guardian Angel) are up yet. I think soil moisture as well as sunlight affect when a given variety of hosta emerges from dormancy.

Welcome to the world of hostas, plantingman.

Les

(I tend to overthink when it comes to gardening. I sometimes worry about my plants like I worry about my children if I don't know where they're at. lol)

==>> its hard to be compulsive.. when dealing with the vagaries of mother nature ... and you will NEVER out wit her.. or out think her ...

what will live.. will live.. and 'when' they will all pop up .. is left to fate ...

just try not to worry about them ... on some level you gotta go zen .. and understand.. they are not children ...

but if you planted them near the surface.. you should at least be able to see the eyes or pips.. to soothe your anxiety ...

ken

I live in the 6a zone. I only have 17 different types of hosta, but the only ones showing so far are a couple of Sieboldiana Splendis with a couple of Sieboldiana Francee showing some root activity. I have Blue Angel and 14 others that have not shown any signs of life. It is forecast to be 81 degrees here today, so maybe there will be some activity tomorrow morning.

Jon

I just noticed that Sam is in Kansas, so my SE, MA experience means nothing. As Dorothy said to Toto we're not in Kansas (anymore).

Jon

I did look closer and one of my Blue Angels does have one eye poking through the ground. The others aren't up yet, and I have not dug and will not dig to see if they are still alive.
Thanks for all of the information. I will stop worrying now.

Here in Southern Ontario my hostas always show up well after most of my other perennials, and after the spring bulbs are up and blooming. My gardens are quite green now, daffodils blooming, tulips ready to open, but hostas just starting to peek. Hostas are late to emerge -- and so a challenge to remember where they are and not step on them while picking a bouquet!They will eventually appear!
Jan

Is Embroidery slow to emerge

After yesterday hitting 84 degrees the forecast for SE Massachusetts is 29 degrees for Saturday and Sunday night. It looks as if the hostas were not fooled as they are not close to opening up and, in most cases, even making a showing here.

My hostas are on the North side of my house and receive mostly shade. The ground over there, although not frozen, is considerably cooler than the ground in other parts of my yard. This is the first spring that I have had them in the ground, so it will give me a good idea of when I can expect them to break dormancy in the following years.

Of three hosta in the ground from last year, only H.'Winter Snow' is showing an eye turning green. The H. 'Blue Angel' is nowhere to be seen yet, and it was not planted deep. I saw a lot of tunnels dug around it, beneath the winter leaf mulch, which might explain its absence.

All of my containerized hosta are showing life, except for H. 'Dick Ward' which I cannot even feel the sharp point of any eye trying to protrude. All the others I moved with it from zone 5b to 9a are doing fine, that I can tell. Somewhere along the line I lost H.'Brother Stefan' and have a replacement on order for this favorite.

I do not like to gamble on my plants, and it seems that putting them in the ground here is risking their well being more than keeping in containers.

Okay, 3 out of 4 of my blue angel hostas are now poking their eyes up through the soil. One hasn't emerged yet, so hopefully its just a late bloomer. I have more hostas coming around May 1st. If the fourth blue angel isn't up by that time, then I will dig down a little bit to see if it survived. If not I will replace it with an earth angel hosta I have coming in May.
Thanks for al of the information. I appreciate it.

Life is good, saw eyes of Komodo Dragon above the mulch, and several eyes each of Jurassic Park and Satisfaction under the mulch! They are highly appreciated here.
Bernd

Bernd, would you please remember to post a picture of your Satisfaction when it gets up good? I think my NOID is really a Satisfaction, but never saw a real one. Mine now has a light lavenderish blossom on a single scape, and it is, to me, a beauty, plant, flower, all.

Moccasin, I will try to remember. I like when a plant added some eyes, went from 1 last year to 4 now. Satisfaction was created by Bridgewood Gardens, I bought a little plant in fall of 2010 from them in a sale, should look much better in 2 months when leafed out. Now, Jurassic Park should get really big some year, had 1 eye last year, now 4. This year it should be the year when hostas planted in 2009 and 2010 really take off in my garden, can't wait!
Bernd

Hooray! My fourth Blue Angel hosta started to emerge yesterday! I thought it would though. On Wednesday I could feel a bump in the soil like something was beginning to push its way up and then yesterday the hosta eye was peeking through the surface of the ground.

Plantingman,check out my post about really ahead,and you'll see how hostas already look down here in NC! Phil

...and the Dick Ward I said wasn't doing much, well, it now has two tender leaves unfurled, and looking quite pale, not its weathered look I remember from last summer. The one I think might be the OLD Brother Stefan has two eyes growing taller daily, and the new Brother Stefan, my backup, has three really pretty leaves opening as well. Very judiciously, I moved the slow plants into more sun, and then moved the Patriot out of the sun....don't want it puckering or whatever it is, but may just cut some old leaves off to let it make new perfect ones. Its been growing for about a month now, and I just learned it needs to be sheltered from the sun more.

Oh yeah, and the Sum & Substance is working on its 4th leaf.
Every day, I go to my courtyard corner of the garden, and sit for about an hour watching hosta grow. Today, I was also potting peace lilies, bird of paradise, strawberries, as well as my orders received. I think one of the hosta grew in the shipping container, Fried Bananas, because the tall leaf was scrunched down at the end.

As a general rule ... Hosta emerge 30 to 45 days after the snow clears the ground above it ... or the same period after the last freezing temperature of winter. If you've reached your mid-season for your gardening zone and you've not seen your hosta where it ought to be then there is a fair chance that the plant either:

• Froze out. This means you will find remains of rhizomes under the ground with no living tissue ... or ...

• Experienced Crown Rot. This means you will find absolutely NO evidence of the plant below the ground as the plant rotted to nothing.

Peter Kelley; St. Paul, MN USA

Author of Gardening Blog: Hosta By Kelley

Wow......subtle.

Is there something wrong with my comment? I share information freely.

the original post is several years old Pete

Just thought I'd add to the knowledge base. I'm in Portland, OR (zone 8) and after a wet winter my hostas started to emerge in the last weeks of March. They were planted in mid-September of the previous fall. They sit on the north side of my house in shade, so the soil is cooler than the rest of my yard. Soil temperature maps are showing that Portland soils are still in the mid-40 degree range, but I haven't measured my soil directly.

The previous poster has it closest. When the soil temperature is it 40° AND then about 2 weeks after. That's when the hosta will spike.. With my garden I must also add to that adage: AND about 2 weeks AFTER my neighbor's have spikes.

This year I will be adding about 20 of the mouse ear hosta; Two white feather, and a few Itsy Bitsy Spiders! And that's AFTER getting rid of a critter in the garden [mole?].

Peter Kelley, St Paul, MN USA

Author of webblog: HostaByKelley

I am in Eastern Ontario, my hostas are in a raised bed under trees with a lot of shade. I don't really see any activity until late may/early June. This will only be year 3 and the first year I thought they had all died! Boy was I happy when I seen them finally come up! My tulips and daffodils are only up about an inch or so now.

I am in Eastern Ontario too Tanya, about 45 minutes SW of Ottawa. There is one other person on here from Ottawa. Are you anywhere relatively close? The majority of people here from ON are in Southern Ontario. My hostas are usually up mid to late May.

Yep peren.all , you don't sound to far from me. I am 1/2 way between Kingston and Napanee.