I had a few I overwintered in pots; I just put them in a corner of my garage (unheated). They made it OK. Others may have differing methods. Hope you get some more replies.

Regards,
Don B.

I'm in Texas. We have intermittent freezes. I leave mine where they sit. Period.

If we have a wet cool spring, I'm in trouble. All other times, it works out great.

bk

I've overwintered in pots for a few years now. I've been doing it since before I knew about this forum. When I didnt know there was special care needed. I've read that you need to tip the pot over and you need to pay attention to your media in the pot and you need to watch out for spring rot. All of these tips are good advise. But honestly, I just put my hostas in a pot - any pot I had, dirt from my yard cuz Im too cheep to buy potting media, tuck them under my deck once they go to sleep and ignore them until spring. It's been working for me in my zone.

Here are some of my potted beauties:

Christmas Tree (in a black plastic pot, dirt from my yard - clay mix)

Dream Queen (in a plastic pot inside a clay pot - same dirt as my yard) This one I will eventually plant as she will get big

Touch of Class (in a plastic pot - gonna stay in a pot)

The only "special" treatment I give them is I water them with my dehumidifier water and sometimes my fish tank water when I change it.

Hey Mike!! I have a bunch in pots sitting ON the soil at one end of my veggie garden. When they die down I pour mulch between and on top ofvthe pots. Have not had any problems over many years.

hey mike

does your name imply.. or infer.. that you are in MI ...

be very careful about taking advice from warmer zone peeps...

if MI... i have some thoughts..

ken

Hi Mike,
I overwintered about 30 in black plastic pots last winter. I used a bark based, free draining mix. Someone mentioned that I didn't need to tip them if the mix was free draining. I lost about 10. WTS, they were small starter plants, so that was probably part of the problem.

I'm going to try to get them in the ground this fall just for overwintering. If that doesn't happen, I'm going to be sure to tip them.
Gail

Ken, I think Mike can read. . . and figure out that advice from Zone 8 would not apply to him . . . Duh! Give him USEFUL information. . . And stop with the drama...give the info if you have it, don't make him chase you for it, because you might just end up M.I.A. As you've done on occasion....LOL

Mike, anything I have in pots goes (once they're dormant and frozen hard) into the unheated garage as well...no garage? Turn them on the side, they'll be fine.....:-)
Regards, Jo

I grow more hosta in pots than I do in the ground. I have now overwintered them for two winters. The first winter I put them into an unheated garage. I was 100% successful. The next winter I had to figure out something in addition to the garage because there was no more room! (Anyways, that's what my husband said!) So the second year, my prized possessions went into the garage, about 20 went into a window well and another 20 or so were buried (pot and all) into the garden. I was not successful with two pots. One of those died (I attribute that to the pot being too small---4 inches---and too dry) and the other one I can't quite figure out yet---a Patriot that has remained stunted. My other three Patriot are great.

So here is what I learned:

-Very small pots become very dry and I think if I were going to overwinter them, I would put a bit of water or snow on them every month or so.

-If sinking them into the soil, remember to add soil to the top of the pot and then remove it in the spring. I was freaking out (okay I am exaggerating, but not that much! LOL) when I saw the water that was lying on top of the pot during the spring rain. I ran out trying to drain them by cutting the side of the pot, but some pots were too thick to cut. Then the water would freeze again creating a one inch thick layer of ice (heart attack time!). Ken (thanks Ken!) told me to take the pots out of the soil ASAP and that's what I did. At first the pots were still frozen and stuck in the soil, but eventually I was able to take them out. And voila, success!

This winter I plan to do the same. I hope I have enough room!

ken

This post was edited by ken_adrian on Wed, Aug 21, 13 at 15:53

All my 300 hostas are in the ground, except one 1st year seedling was in a 4 inch wide pot with potting mix. I tipped it over in early winter, hid it behind a tree, and it came up beautifully this spring. Bernd

P.s. containers: yes, I will have about 50 hosta seedlings (after culling) growing this winter in pots in my basement.

I tried leaving hostas just sitting in two monster pots, and they both rotted. I have a potted Pandora's Box that gets tipped on its side and sits in a sheltered area by the house, and it does fine. I think the main thing is keeping the roots dry until after the last frost.

This year I'm thinking of leaving one of my hostas in its monster pot but covering it with several layers of plastic. I just hope the plastic doesn't act like a cold frame and heat the plant up too soon.

Wow..What a chalk full of info here! I never expected to see so many come out and help and even better, more growing in pots!

I guess I have many options....I guess the key is to make sure they get a drink or get some snow in covered places so they don't descicate?

The other is not not let the thaw freeze thing happen...

And not to let standing water sit on top of them just to freeze and evenetually rot the...

I now should also consider what dry winter winds can do...

So that being said, I will try a hand at leaving some in the garage and making sure they stay hydrated some how, and the others tilted on their sides so they get moisture, but not a puddle of water standing up..

Has anyone ever tried the 'white felt' method? Leaving them up but covering them with a cloth not plastic, or plastic? If someone said it, I am sorry I did not see it..:-)

Thanks agin everyone for your support..It just so happens I have a few in 5 inch pots, the miniature ones and a few in bigger 5 gallons pots.....

Now to avoid them cracking from the cold....
I wonder if I should of used Resin or Plastic pots instead or ceramic or clay?

We don't freeze here, so any pot advice I give won't apply to you, EXCEPT for you to keep in mind that "Dormant" means just that...not growing at all, so they don't need any additional moisture in those pots if their roots are nicely surrounded by something (potting medium) and not exposed to the drying air.

Excess moisture on dormant hosta crowns and roots is a real invitation to ROT.

-Babka

Thank you, Ken. This "snot" did ask for your help, which you acknowledged you'd give when i posted a new thread....which i did...you did not deliver, for whatever reason. I don't need to quote it back to you.

When I specifically asked you, that request indicated a token of my regard for you . . . for your knowledge and experience with hosta. I respect that about you Ken and no one can take that away from you.

I thank you for your time and any assistance you may have given me to date. It has been appreciated.

Josephine

Let's not get so testy here folks. I used to go round and round with Butch Ragland, and sometimes it just isn't worth the effort to be RIGHT or in his case LEFT!!! Haha.

We all have very different personalities, and that is what makes this forum fun, not just questions and answers. All opinions (even the dopey ones) from people who are actually growing hostas are welcome here, I think? Each of us gets to respond to whatever is posted, so whether you like the responses or not, YOU choose to respond. No need to agree all the time.

Anyone who has been around here for several years will understand how this all works out, and for the newbies...jump in... the water is fine, sometimes choppy, but who would want to frequent a forum where everyone always agreed? Poo on that.

-Babka

Mikes post reminded me that I will have a couple dozen new hosta in pots this winter which is new for me. I've been noticing some will need repotting due to roots emerging out of the bottom...and thinking that the extra soil covering those roots would also act like a bit of an insulator during winter? I guess it wouldn't hurt to upsize now? I'm hesitant about that in terms of too much soil/ in too big a pot / too much moisture too long for the rest of the growing season.... any thoughts?
Thanks! :-)

Well said Babka.

Now let's get back to business!

MadPlanter1, regarding your monster pots. Perhaps you could consider putting a hosta pot (or two) within the monster pot? Then you could just remove the pot(s) and overwinter in a shed or garage or just tip it over in your garden? Here is a picture of the top of my soil in a large container. I decided to keep the hosta in the pot so that it would be easier to remove in the fall.

Here is a photo of the actual hosta arrangement.

As for repotting Jo, if the hosta needs it, then I don't think it is a problem as long as the pot is not much larger than the original.

Thanks, NHL..and...that is one stunning combination! Wow! What is that hosta called again??

I was going to ask the same thing.....I love that Hosat and those stunning colors...
Lol, I actually have a black pot that size and all those same plants except growing in separate containers...What a great idea...

What do you do if the potted Hoya should decide to grow roots into that big pot by summers end? It's happened to me before..I'd hate to chop them all off after pulling it up, or does do no harm?

Talk about brightening up an area...

Last year I planted some beautiful ornamental grass as the one you displayed in a big container and it never made it back this year...By spring, that container was a block of ice and any melting that happened was on the first few inches which left standing water to freeze over and over...That water could not drain until the whole pot was melted to the bottom.
The container was not tilted and that sure taught me a lessen..I think that grass just rotted away or froze to death.. I do not want the same thing to happen to any Hosta..

Thanks again.

MIke

The hosta in my container is Brother Stefan.

At the end of the season, the hosta goes into the unheated garage for storage, the grass gets planted into the ground and the ivy will come into the house. That way, next year there is nothing to buy. Just replant again.

As for the hosta, I make sure that the pot it is in is the right size, and if it needs repotting, that that is done prior to making this container arrangement. Should the roots grow into the large pot at the end of the summer (and it hasn't), I would just gently remove and repot the hosta again. I would not cut the roots of the hosta. One day, if I want to keep the same arrangement, I may have to get a larger container. Or I have the choice to change it up a bit and use a different hosta with some perennials or annuals.

Overall, it's pretty easy. And if I can do it, you can do it!

Thanks for the compliments Mike and Jo.

I went out this morning and got a picture of a single leaf to show you a close up. Bare in mind, the markings on the leaf is from the hail I got two weeks ago. Otherwise BS was looking almost perfect!

I made this container arrangement last year---Striptease, ivy and impatiens. At first I didn't like it that much because the container was kind of an ugly color and stood out too much. But soon the ivy and impatiens covered it up. Then I was happy with it. But now the Striptease is too big, so I decided to work with another hosta I had.

I have a very large Italian looking plastic container on my covered porch. One year I planted inexpensive hostas in there. During a large snow fall that winter seeing the bare mulch in that pot I covered it with several handfuls of snow. The hostas never came up in spring. Bernd

Good topic. I have actually removed the hosta from the containers and put them in my vegetable patch for the winter. Then dug them out an potted them up before the tomatoes go in. I did over winter one in its pot (trough) by putting it on its side and leaving it on the North side of my house, so it wouldn't thaw out prematurely. It came through fine. I left one in its pot - too big pot - and it did not come through fine. Besides the freeze thaw thing, critters got in it an dug around. I'm glad you started this thread because I haven't decided what I will do this year.

Newhostalady, thanks for posting your combonation pots. I have done some combinations and am planning on doing more.

Beverly

I have Olive Bailey Langdon in a whiskey barrel that I just throw a tarp over to keep the ice and snow out over winter. Works great!

I also have a Lakeside Shoremaster in a big pot that I put in my unheated shed over winter and leave until spring. Works great too.

Newhostalady, Love Bro. Stefan in the pot. I'd never thought about putting other things in with the hostas, looks terrific.

Actually, after years of being dug up, heeled in, and replanted every year, the hostas almost NEED a monster pot. Well, at least a 5 gallon one. They started out as Honeybells, but have turned into a plain green. Still have lovely fragrant flowers, and are tough enough to move every year and still grow. If I ever get some spare time I'll have to get a photo of them. I might try kentstar's idea of putting a tarp over one this year. That way I'll have a backup if the one in the pot dies.

Right now I'm working on the new hosta bed, building retaining walls and trying to get things out of pots and into the bed by mid September. I did a little at a time all summer, but I guess I should have done more.

Oh my..You have all given me some great ideas and to think I can leave them in containers as long as I want excites me..

Just so beautiful !!!! I love the colors too!

MIke