The pics are beautiful, as yours always are. But the tombstone title has me baffled: I sure hope that you didn't lose all of these over the winter.

Oh NOOOOOO--McT!! I feel your pain--'been there--had it happen to me' year before last!
I have a knot in my stomach looking through your losses and remembering!!!!

I think it's a *pot* issue--in my case! This time, (last fall)I buried all my potted hosta in a bed
with composted horse manure mix--up to their rims and they all survived !!!

I also made sure they were not getting any direct sunlight by parking our riding tractor trailer in front of
them and tilted it (tongue down) to block any possible rays!

My deepest condolences are extended to you, my friend! :o(

Are you saying they didn't come up or they have HVX? I'm confused because most of them look fine, but some do have odd leaves. Whichever, I'm sorry for the losses.

All the losses were plants in pots. A few were left outside and tipped over but the majority were taken into an unheated garage - 140 +. I had never lost any hostas that I'd taken into the garage before. I know it was very wet in the fall and I didn't get them put away until mid November. I was waiting for them to dry out more which they never did. The only common thing was that many that were lost were pretty wet. A few that were lost were only damp. None that were bone dry were lost. In come cases I had 3 or 4 plants in the same pot, same exact moisture soil etc. and one of them would be lost while the others were fine. I think I'm at about 30 now that are gone for sure with another 25-30 that are in doubt. I'm tryting to get as many potted plants into the ground this year as possible and I will be carefully checking the soil in those that will have to overwinter in pots. I'm even thinking of healing them into the area I take the dahlias out. I'm moving on and no longer that worried about ceder tree roots!

Were they in the same containers for too long? Potting mix loses its structure after a few years and plants need to be re-potted. Painful but makes sense to me.

A very long read . . . .

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Soils and Water Movement

I feel your pain McT. That happened to me last year, I had quite a few less than you had potted up and put in the shed instead of the garage like other years. I lost more than half, around 10 or 15. No matter if less than you lost, it still was a shock. Now into the ground with everything except the ones I put on my deck and then I just do common ones that I can replace from my garden.

Connie

I lost quite a few too, but I learned something. All that were lost were in pots that contained mostly soil and soil-like potting medium. I did not lose any that were potted in bark, AND they all sat out under the magnolia tree all winter.

Interesting, verdad?

Lainey

So sorry,Mct! If there's anything I can take from this,it is don't leave plants in pots too long. I only have a few in pots,and they are under the eaves by my house. I do have some some in half-whiskey barrels,but we don't have the freeze/thaw problems like those up north. So far,the only ones I have ever lost have been hard-to-grow varieties,and a few many years ago from voles. My condolences on your losses. Phil

* sniff *

know the feeling. Living north of KC and keeping anything in pots carries the risk of non-survival.

Hosta needs 50+ days of sub 30 degree weather for it to go dormant.

I've tried pots, sinking them in the ground, having them above ground, putting them in the garage.

It's best just to have them in the ground, me thinks.

_~

dkB

Bragu, I beg to differ. They don't need 50+ days of sub 30 degree weather to go dormant. That doesn't happen here in San Jose, California. They need about 6 weeks of nighttime temps below 40 to stay dormant. We hit the 50's-60's during the daytime Winter months. We didn't drop below 32 degrees this year and my hostas in pots in bark are going gangbusters. I've been growing them since the late 1990's.

It's been my observation that they go dormant due to the changes in daylight hours. Keeping them dormant (and dry-ish)until they wake up in Spring is the key.

I totally agre that the soil makes the difference. They will do fine for a year or two in potting soil (I even used 1/2 potting soil and 1/2 perlite for a couple years but it packed down and all the perlite floated to the top. messy). I've found that mini-bark with just a few scoopfulls of organic compost works well, retaining some moisture, but allows the water to flow freely thru the pot, even after a couple years. Diluted liquid fert supplies the nutrients, so does,as some have suggested, a few tablespoons/or handfulls of manure on top of the bark, depending on the size of the pot.

-Babka

I'm particularly sad about my 'Blue River' of hosta, which was JUST PERFECT last year. I lost four of the nine plants over the winter, and one of the five remaining - 'Blue Mammoth' - looks like a goner, only two small leaves up now. You can't see the 'Blue Mammoth' in this photo - it's just off to the right in the top tier. I particularly loved the unique color of 'Fragrant Blue' and it's contrast to the 'Halcyon.' I know chipmunks got those two. Clicking on the photo takes you to a large version.

Click link below to see what it looked like, before. :(

Here is a link that might be useful: Lisa's Blues - BEFORE the 2008-9 Winter Loss

I am sorry for your loss.

McT - I feel your pain - last year I bought LOTS of hostas (over 200 - my brain and judgement were clouded by painkillers!)thinking that, even though I'd herniated my back, I'd be well enough to get them into the ground. Sadly my hopes were dashed but I managed to get some of them in the ground and the rest into pots. My treasured mini purchases were carefuly planted in a trough which was then put in the gazebo.

I lost 50% of the minis (12) and about 30 of the potted plants. I am devastated as you can imagine!

I take heart in the fact the remainder have come up beautifully - my only problem being the labels went on walkabout and matching them to their plants is going to be a tedious business!

Jakki

Thank you all for your concern. It looks like the total will be somewhere between 40 and 50. There may have been one or two that were getting root bound but I'm careful about that and add to the soil in potted plants just about every year as I pot them up, or generally move them into something different.

Lisa, it looks like you lost some in the ground. Is this true? That would give me something to worry about all next winter. Being in zone 7 the freeze/thaw issue might be something you deal with more than I would have to.

Lainey, I'm now using shreded pine mixed with the soil and I will make sure that any that are in pots over the winter have most of the top two inches mainly pine mulch.

Like I said, I'd never lost any that I took into the unheated garage before. Actually, I use to leave all potted hostas outside over the winter, never tipping them or even thinking about them. I never lost any. Now that I'm aware of the possibility it's a weird coincidence that the combination of weather, wetness and whatever else all contributed to this.