Yes,they will green up very fast,especially if they have some good light,from either a window,or artificial lighting. I've grow many of those bare-root hostas. Phil

You won't have any problems getting them to grow, just may not be what the package says they are....from my experience with bare root hostas from box stores.

BE CAREFUL

THE BIG BOX STORES HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH HVX DISEASE
LOOK AT HOSTA LIBRARY.ORG FOR INFO

RICHARD

I buy bare roots every year , when I get them home I pot them up and keep them inside until it gets warm.great way to get more for your buck.

Not defending big boxes in any way, but what is your source that they have any higher incident of HVX than other retailers? I read the info on Host Library and did not see any mention of big box stores.

That is general experience talking, many of us have seen a lot of HVX at big box stores. The problem is, when the wholesaler does huge scale production it is often grown in fields and the hosta roots are washed off in large bins with pressure washers. This causes root trauma and the virus spreads easily from the wash solution to scratches in leaves and roots.
This was happening very commonly a few years ago in Holland I think.
Dave

Thanks for the info. I see how it can spread in large scale cases like you explained. The only reason for my original post was that it seemed like maybe there was more at a big box store, simply because they handled more plants than smaller places, but your explanation makes total sense to me. In kind of a scary way.

Let me just add that I've been buying Hostas from Costco for the last few years and last year almost all the varieties I bought were HVX infected. I had no trouble getting a refund.

When I saw the displays go up again this year I dug through the assortment to see what I didn't have yet and would make a good addition the my modest but growing collection. So, right now I have 4 'Eskimo Pie' potted up in #1's and 3 of the 4 have started unfurling, so I should have an inkling in about another month or so whether these are possibly infected or not. I'll have to wait another year at least though before I feel a little more comfortable giving them a clean bill of health.

I have personally seen the HVX at Walmart..growing in pots, K-Mart, Lowes potted plants,and HomeDepot,potted plants and at One Hi-end nursery of all places! I have drawn attention about it to the managers of these garden centers, and get blown off..like oh well......The nursery did pull the plant off the shelf where it was right in the middle of a bunch of others. I couldn't believe it when I seen it. These outfits need an education. I wouldn't buy a potted Hosta out of any of them! No shortcuts to Glory!