I'm in Georgia, so can't help much with the winter question. I'm sure you will hear from the more experienced forum members, but in the meantime you can check out a thread I started about potting hostas.
Oh, and what a great housewarming gift, you're a good friend (or enabler?) LOL.
Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: potted hostas

I never have any luck wintering pots....but really love the idea of sweet home Chicago blooming on her balcony.
?Could you offer to heel it in for her in the winter? Or maybe try it in her garage.
It's a beautiful hosta! And the name is so great for your purpose.

Thanks for the replies. I would love to take it over in the winter, but she may never get it back! You understand...the hosta obsession!!! I don't have SHC yet!

Simple to fix.....when you buy one for her, get one for yourself too!!
Did you really NEED an excuse?
Linda C

Should be fine if she lets it go dormant and sticks it in the garage for the winter. DON'T water it during dormancy or it can rot.

I live in Northwestern Illinois about 2 + hours from Chicago and I have wintered hostas in pots in our attached but unheated garage for 5 or 6 years now and the only problem I seem to have is that they come out of dormancy about 3 weeks sooner than the hostas outside. I just move them to my 3 season porch and then back to the garage if we get freezing weather again before I can put then out into the garden.

Connie

if the pot is outside - balcony or roof - i don't see any reason to have to drag it into a garage for the winter. just be sure to buy a non-clay pot that won't crack in the cold -- and that has drainage holes. i grow daylilies in pots and leave them in the same spot all winter. and they don't know the difference.

what do you have to lose in trying ....

as soon as the pot freezes ... tip it on its side.. and stack it on the north side of something ....

north side to keep the pot out of sun .. even at zero degrees.. sun on black pots will get extremely hot.. perhaps forcing the hosta out of dormancy in jan/feb ....

on its side.. because the roots need to breath .. and it left upright.. an ice dam could form on the top of the pot ... hosta will not live in an ice cube all winter ...

use plastic pots.. they flex .. clay pots will crack ... or.. plant in plastic.. insert in decorative pot ...

ken

I only have a few hostas in one and two gallon plastic pots, since this is my first year...somebody told me to dig holes for the pots in bare areas of the garden for the winter.

Good or bad advice?

Thank you everyone for the advice, I greatly appreciate the feedback. Can always find someone on the forum who has the answer! Everyone have a great July 4! I'll be going to the cousin in Chicago so I can check her townhouse out and see what will work!

puck hog.. start your own post for an answer .. others want to know... and they wont look here for an answer to a new question ... ken

If she leaves it outside then after dormancy put bubble wrap or the opaque shipping plastic over and around the pot and forget it. Hosta needs little water in the winter and probably should not be water period.

The plastic wrap with aluminum on one side used for electronic shipping is a super insulator with the aluminum side out then bubble wrap etc on top of that.

I started overwintering in pots last year. I get the big, giant pots that whole a whole bag of pine mulch (no dyes please.) Then I pot the hosta in the pine mulch. No need to mulch, turn on side. It drains very well if it rains too, so no icebergs. All the ones I planted this way last year, came up fine this year. (Except Great Expectations, of course.) I have Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Orange Marmalade, Little Aurora, Sagae, Sugar BAby, Donner Black Hills, Mississippi Delta, and Thunderbolt all planted this way. I also plant ferns in the same manner. No problems. Highjack taught me this method and it really is a good one.

Lainey

I overwinter pots every year. Only time I lose them are when they are in 4 inch pots. Do what ademink and hostasformez4 said, and she'll have great success.

I've never tried the plastic wrap, but Rob Cory from Cory's Wildflowers wraps his huge pots in trash bags, mainly to keep out the winter moisture.

But one, manageable pot? I'd move it into the garage after first freeze. No fuss, no work, no mess.

I move them into the garage also.
But I am intrigued witht he black garbage bag idea and the bubble wrap on top. Has anyone else done this with success? It gets crowded in the garage. I just stack them until spring.

"But I am intrigued with he black garbage bag idea and the bubble wrap on top. Has anyone else done this with success? It gets crowded in the garage. I just stack them until spring."

The black plastic works to keep moisture out which is VERY important but black heats up in the spring which causes them to come out of dormancy early, not so good. The point of bubble wrap or the opaque wrap used to wrap glassware is the insulation factor to keep them cool longer. There is an opaque product used by growers for this purpose in large sheets.

IÂve used the things IÂve talked about but putting them in the garage is way easy for me so that is all I do if I do anything. In most zones putting something like a lid on the pot to keep water and snow off will be fine.

The problem with us compulsives is if we do little and the plant dies we get crazy with guilt.

Hey everyone! The suggestions are great!! Visited the townhouse in question, and low and behold she has a small fenced in courtyard by her front door that gets some sun until about noon and then shade!! Very easy and awesome place for Sweet Home Chicago!! She has some very sad looking undulata that were there when she moved in, and I believe it is time to get her started! (I have plenty to divide up later this summer!!)
Thanks again for the replys

to simplify it all ....

get it frozen/dormant ... keep it dormant ....

a black pot.. frankly any pot in zero degrees with the sun on it.. can thaw and the plant will come out of dormancy and then refreeze that night.. hence the shade ... or out of the sun ....

second.. roots need air ... there is no air in an ice cube .... so once frozen .... don't let water/ice/water accumulate in the pot... tip on the side... wrap it.. what ever.. just don't let it turn into an ice cube ...

i don't know about a BLACK bag ... why not try a clear bag ... avoid the whole black thingee in the sun..

good luck

ken