Winter forced hostas

10 years ago

Somebody asked something a while back about hostas that had been forced in the winter, I forget just what the question was, maybe about buying them.I may have chimed into that saying that I had done it before, and they were fine.

Well! Let me share what happened this year, with the strange weather and all. The nursery that grew them for a lawn and garden show in February had been forcing them all winter. I had bought four of them in late February at our hosta society auction, in full beautiful growth, as I have done before, kept them indoors until April when I felt it was finally safe to put them in the ground. They were still pretty and perky. Shortly thereafter, we had more cool weather, then a couple of almost-freezing nights, Two of them, Rubies Ruffles, and Silver Bay, started to go downhill. I was a bit distressed but figured they would perk up again when it warmed up. Then snow the first of May, and that did it. They lost every leaf.

But when I examined them, expecting to see the crowns turned to mush, I discovered nice, fat eyes poking up--the darn things had gone dormant!

Ok, now what? Are they going to sit there all summer and next winter before they leaf out again? I kept an eye on them, and now with summer finally settling in and 90 degree days, Ruby Ruffles has begun unfurling, with Silver Bay not far behind, just as if it were spring.

So a long winter of being forced, uncommonly cool weather that fooled them into thinking it was fall, and dormancy set in.

Funny thing was, the other two didn't do that, and look just fine, even got a new flush of growth.

So there you are, the tale of what can happen to hostas forced in the winter.

Sandy

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Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
well witch...

let me congratulate you on being the first to stump me...

well.. maybe not the first... but i simply have never heard..

what the heck.. throw them in the veggie crisper.. and pull them out after the requisite number of cold days.. of which i dont know.. and grow them until they go dormant again ...

what do i know...

where is banyai.... wonder if this might not even stump him.... probably tell you to throw it on the driveway like his mom used to.. lol ....

ken
mosswitch
Original Author
10 years ago
I mentioned it to Amy at Hilltop Farms (she was the one who forced them) and she said she wasn't surprised! She said hostas that come from the Southern Hemisphere (Australia, eg,) are like that, upside down summers and winters, and it might take them four or five years to fully acclimate to our hemisphere!

Learn something every day!

Sandy
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brucebanyaihsta
10 years ago
Forced hosta are a mixed bag. They are easy to force, but have spent that year's energy early.

Some recover their timing and stay in step with your seasonal weather, others go dormant and then croak, unless they are very hardy.

I bought a 4 division huge clump of "Fleeta Brownell Woodruff" from the guy who forced it for the Philadelphia Flower Show back in the late 1980's. Forced hosta were the rage back then, especially the large variegated ones like Sagae.

Most I have ever paid for a single clump, but it was gorgeous, rare and I could get it as is.

Took it back home, left it outdoors and it did just that, leaves died back, new eyes came out. I went ahead and divided it, hoping to pay for then stupid purchase, as many people wanted it (originator's stock).

Well, both divisions came back later that summer, unfurled and looked fairly good.

Then the following Spring, nothing. Nada, Zilch.

Not sure what I would have done differently, other than take a pass on it!

Bruce
mosswitch
Original Author
10 years ago
Interesting, Bruce. Now I wonder if they'll come back next spring? Guess I just wait and see.

Sandy
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
bruce.. i did get your GW email... but i dont think they let us reply to those anymore ... though i did try ...

ken ....
brucebanyaihsta
10 years ago
Ken
my email is banyaihsta at aol.com

send me an email today.

Bruce