I want to share a report on my experiment with Butchs constant water reservoir system. I wish I knew then what I know now, but I am getting there. This is for southern, heat growers, but Butch is using this system up north. Butch emailed me with some tips for winterizing, but I canÂt find that email right now. I remember he said to turn them on their sides. I donÂt have to do that here because our winters are so mild; I leave them where they are. This winter I didnÂt have to water, but the dry winter before last, I watered about three times. They do break dormancy earlier in a container. I am starting to dig some of them lower to the ground. I donÂt know if that will affect how fast they break dormancy or not. I started this whole experiment about three years ago. First, I started putting my hostas in a shallow pan of water. Some of the big ones spent a year in a wading pool. I liked being able to monitor the water level. That system does work, but mosquitoes will carry you off. I tried mosquito dunks, but it was cost prohibitive and did not really do the job. I then tried ButchÂs container within a container method. Once again, this system does work, but in some cases I found that the container inside the pot would limit root grown. I had enough success that I was not afraid to try ButchÂs closed pot with drain holes on the side method. I started off putting the drain holes about one fourth of the way up. This worked so well that I decided to take it to the next step. Last summer I began to move most of my hostas into pots that have drain holes about two thirds up the container. My plants need all the water they can get. Some of them were even able to make it through August without having what I call heat bleed where the ends of the leaves fade out and eventually get crispy. For the big hostas I use those big utility containers that have rope handles. I donÂt know if they will be big enough for a mature hosta like Blue Angel or Sum and Substance, but they will do for now. For the medium to small hostas, I use trash cans. Ikea has some that work great. I made the mistake of getting white; I will get black whenever I get back to Ikea again because I found that they are less intrusive when they are black or dark green. I bought a drill bit about as big as my little finger. I usually put four or five holes around the perimeter. For small hostas, I use the long trough type containers with the holes up high. Some of my small ones are still in the container within container system. For the growing medium, I use straight pine bark mulch. The first several I put into this system had mushroom compost mixed in. I lost many of those hostas. I have lost very few in straight mulch. You do have to keep an eye on them as you water or after a nice rain. You want that top layer to drain. Once in a great while, the holes will stop flowing, but it has not been as much of a problem as I expected. I can always add more drain holes around the side, but most of the time, I just squirt water from the hose to open up the hole I haven't had to change the mulch yet. I do not know what I will do when it is time to refresh the growing medium for my big hostas. Even after one season in my pool system, it took two people to pick up the root ball of my Sum and Substance .There is no way I will be able to handle a mature, giant hosta. I figure if worse comes to worse, I might be able to shovel prune the big ones. I remove leaves that fall on them in winter because they can hold water next to the crown and cause crown rot. Butch is a big advocate of mulching, but on this one topic I disagree because it does not work for my climate. When he first proposed trying his system, I was leery because most of my experience with container plants had been with house plants. I had to keep reminding myself that hostas are a bog plant. I am so glad I tried this method. I only lost two hostas out of over three hundred this past winter. One of those was Great Expectations. I do sometimes find slugs in voids in the mulch, and snails just climb right up for a treat. There are some funky odors inside the containers, but the hostas donÂt seem to mind. I use compost tea, but you can fertilize any way you want. It all boils down to: ITÂS THE WATER. This system delivers the water. THANKS BUTCH!! Sorry I rambled, but I wanted to share what I have learned. While I am at it, here is a short list of some of my best growers. (I would love to hear lists from other growers). The one I marvel at every time I look is Millennium. The leaves are huge this spring. Majesty has knocked my socks off, too. It has way out-performed Liberty. Other good growers are: Abba Dabba Do, Alligator Shoes, Gunsmoke, Blue Umbrellas, Moonlight Sonata, Spritzer, Polar Moon, Old Glory, Robert Frost, Mt. Everest, Potomac Pride, Alex Summers, and Shade Fanfare. Blue Angel isnÂt very blue, but the leaves are a foot long this year.

Here is a picture of a container with a drain hole on the side.