Most people grow in pots because of their climate. Others have run out of room in their yards. Some just want to enjoy them up close on their patios.

In your area, you would have to take winter precautions against the thaw/freeze cycle. I do nothing with my pots in the winter. They just sit there and look ugly and empty until March, when they start to grow again. Others protect them from rain.

We "potheads" think the extra work is worth it.

bk

welcome.. glad you came over ...

you know.. its going to end up costing you .. lol ...

IA has some of the premier hosta gardens in the US .... i hope you travel to some ...

though there is nothing bad about klehms.. we have lists of favored providers ...

other reasons for pots are.. voles... sand soil ... and lack of garden space ... taking advantage of patios.. decks.. etc..

speaking of which .. where has the tea room lady been.. babka???/ ... you out there.. show her how its done.. and the rest of you ...

ken

Welcome, Mary! :-)

Boy, are you in for a treat! This is a veritable hosta heaven forum and in no time your head will be spinning from all the beautiful hosta you"ll have the pleasure of viewing.....not to mention all the tips and tricks available at your fingertips......soooo many experienced hosta gardeners to answer questions....invaluable advice...and so on.

I started growing hosta in pots inadvertently last year and continued this year for two reasons....basically no experience.

At the end of last year I ran out of time and left a couple of pots of hosta where they sat in the garden. All winter I fretted and stewed! worried that they would rot. Early spring I fought with ice - under the pots and on top of the pots. Long story short...they all survived, thank goodness. Two are still in the very same pots (both heavy clay pots) and growing well and where they will overwinter...but in the garage this time.

The second reason for potted hosta this year was to experiment. I am also moving this month so leaving newly acquired hosta in 2013 in their pots seemed the sensible thing to do. I enjoyed seeing root development throughout the growing season as well...always a good sign! :o).

At first I thought I wouldn't have the required discipline to water them faithfully, but it's easier than I thought. Since I'm one of those gardeners that takes daily walks through my gardens (retired...time is my friend) my potted hosta got the attention they needed...I gathered them in the same area, gave them breathing room, and moved them around at a whim...trying different colour combinations. It's so much fun! All have flushed out new growth and many still look like its mid summer.

Two predominant pot growers that come to mind are Babka and MoccasinLanding...Moc has over 400 hosta! and is a visionary IMHO and a unique gardener. You'll get great input here. Newhostalady has some potted hosta that will either make you drool, or gasp, or both! Ludi has some pics of his Class of 2013 that will make you want to jump out of the page and onto his terrace!! Idiothe's input/comments/advice is a constant and valuable resource and you should see his gardens!!!!!!!!! Many here are happy and proud owners of divisions of his hosta.

Paul in Min. seems to have a never-ending hosta garden...with each post you'll see hosta you've never seen before. Coll. made her own fountain (hyper tufa) and has gorgeous gardens and is quite humble about it all...a wonderful gardener with an eye for detail..then there's delawareDonna...a kind-hearted angel of a gardener ...my memory is doing well this morning but I am hogging space here, so I had better stop. I need a separate website just to list the many, many excellent contributors to this forum.

Don in Colorado is crazy about H. 'Guacamole' so I've fondly nicknamed him Guacamole Don, just in case you happen upon a post that will make you say, "huh?" lol lol. His posts and projects are definitely ones to follow! He's a notorious enabler, isn't he, Jadie? lol. He and Moc started me on the fragrant
Hosta path.

Welcome, enjoy and contribute to your heart's content! and we ALL love pictures, the more the merrier.

Jo

All winter I fretted and stewed! worried that they would rot. Early spring I fought with ice - under the pots and on top of the pots.

==>>>

and all she had to do.. in ground freeze areas.. was..

one.. make sure black pots were NEVER in winter sun ...

two .... tip the pots on their sides.. so water wont accumulate in frozen potting media in winter ...

but she didnt know us then..

the only real bottom line is: GET THEM DORMANT AND KEEP THEM DORMANT ... until april ....

rot happens when they go in and out of dormancy .. in soggy cold potting media ....

someone once posted a pic of all their pots knocked over .... looked like she had been bowling ....

ken

Oh,you are so right, Ken! I didn't know you forum experts then, having come on board only June 18th this year. Now I do, and am wiser for it.....I was caught in a time crunch last year, but not this time around! Armed with information and prepared...in my mind, at least lol :-)

Hi: I keep all of mine but one (so well over 200) in pots and tubs because of rabbits. I used to have hostas planted around the shaded perimeter of the yard with other woodland plants, but the rabbits around here are very destructive and would not stop biting the leaves off. I tried everything to keep the little beasts away -- sprays, soap, bone meal, blood meal, human hair, dog hair, cat hair, cat litter, prayers, and finally curses -- but nothing worked. It was pretty depressing. I finally decided on pots as a last resort and couldn't be happier with the result. This is the first summer I've had beautiful, undamaged hostas.

Watering isn't any more of a chore than it was before, plus I don't have to worry about root invasion and it's easy to move them around for different displays as they grow and change.

Overwintering also isn't a problem because of the relatively mild winters here (I'm in 6a/used to be 5b). Like some others, I don't do anything special with the pots. However, if it looks like it will be an unusually cold or wet winter then we'll move them to the screen porch or group them on the patio under a makeshift hoop house.

So after all that ... mine are doing better in pots than they ever did in the ground.

I agree that it's very difficult to limit yourself when it comes to hostas. I added over 50 this year, many of them babies that will take time to mature but that's part of the fun (for me, anyway). Good luck with your restraint! :-)

I have over 200 in pots. I got lucky it rained nearly every day here, sometimes too much. My soil is sand and there are many trees in my yard so roots are a major problem. Be careful though as I have seen tree roots still go into a pot.

I love to move the garden about as the seasons change. It is why I have a broken wrist. Use two hands to lift heavy pots. Enjoy a new addiction. Paula

Hi Mary.
I had a hosta that I thought might do better in more sunlight. (I only have a lot more sun where there is no soil.) So I took half of it out of my garden and put it into a pot. It turned into a beauty. From that point on I decided that I would grow as many hosta as I could in pots. That was in 2011.

So another reason to grow in a pot is to have control over the potting medium and the sunlight. I also have too many roots in parts of my garden. The tree roots in the soil have not allowed the hostas (or other perennials) to grow to their full potential. But now the hostas in pots are growing very well.

There are pros and cons to having hostas in ground or in pots. I do find the hostas in pots require a bit more work: more frequent watering, repotting and winterizing, but I am enjoying the benefits of almost slug free hostas.

I experiment with my pots. Sometimes I just dig a hole in the ground and sink the pot in the hole.

I have also tried to garage them, with reasonable success. Iowa winters are, well, iowa winters.

whats that we all say 'round here?

You don't like the weather, wait five minutes.

˘ .˘--~
dave

I grow in pots because my collection grows faster than my garden space. And I grow in pots because I sell hosta that way. I lose very few potted hostas to winter.
However, I do think most plants, and especially hostas, are better in the ground. Growth rate, colour, form - everything shows better in the garden where they have room to stretch. And they are less work in the garden. So, I keep my own collection in pots until I have garden room to show them off. I plant them as soon as I am able.
Also, a lot of the really avid pot growers on this forum grow hosta out of zone and pots allow them more wiggle room in warm climates..