I've got the same question about overwintering. I've had to move all my minis into pots; even Pandora's Box is growing now! Could I plant them, still potted, in my compost pile? N

I think it's risky to overwinter in pots unless the entire pot is buried in the ground. I don't have too many in pots, just a few special decorative ones for the patio and several for indoor hybridizing. I either bury the whole pot or take the plant out of the pot (some pots are too nice to bury) and stick the plant in the ground for the winter.

I did leave one in a pot in the garage last winter as an experiment with a hosta I didn't care about. It didn't survive.

I stack dozens of hosta into my shed every fall, all sizes, no issues. Just keep them DRY. I haven't planted a hosta into the soil in 5 years . . . . such a rebel!

I have between 50 and 60 hostas that I have overwintered in pots for the last 5 years here in the Green Mountains of Vermont. All i do is turn them on their side to keep them dry. I used to cover them up with a tarp but the voles would get into them. Since I stopped doing that I haven't lost any. Good Luck. Tim

You may be fine overwintering them in pots in zone 7 or in other tropical places like Vermont or Chicago. But I wouldn't try it in the north.

Notice the zones of the people responding. Chris, you are in zone 7 so it's doubtful you'd have a problem. I'm in zone 4/5 and up to last year never had a problem with pots I took into an unheated garage. Before that I would leave the larger ones outside and tip them over. That had always worked until 2007 when we had a freeze/thaw cycle for the first time. I lost a few that year that were outside so I began taking nearly all of them inside. It was a shock last year to have lost probably 50 out of 150 that I took to the garage. Since then I have heard that many people here and elsewhere lost plants last year. It couldn't have been the cold because its been colder here in the past and frozen is frozen. The common thing I found with the ones I'd lost was they were wet. Those that were dry were fine. A few that were wet were also fine but this year I'm going to attempt to make sure anything in a pot is dry before putting it away. I'm also makeing sure the soil mixture is very loose with pine shavings etc. This may be the critical for those of us in zone's 5 and lower. Those of you in higher zones are probably fine. My sister grows many hostas in barrels and pots in Seattle. She pulls the pots below an overhang of the roof and thats it. She's never lost one ever. It's really wet in Seattle but that doesn't seem to be an issue I guess because of the higher zone. Good luck.

McT

Hi - I overwinter hundreds of hostas in pots each winter. Mine are in beds with white overwintering plastic covering them. Keeping them dry is good advise. The only ones I lose are ones that sit wet in winter. I know a number of folks who simply put the pots along the east side of the house and cover with mulch. I use d-con to keep critters from causing a lot of havoc.

Good Luck

In Zone 7 there should be no problem, as long as the pots have good drainage. In fact, it's probably an advantage to overwinter them in pots, above ground. Earlier dormancy and more chill hours, as the soil in the pots will become colder much earlier than the ground temperature.
Almost all of my Minis and some small/medium ones, plus a few large ones are grown in pots (about 500, guessing) and they endure the winter, with about the same number of losses as the ones in the ground.
Fallen leaves and pine needles cover the pots after frost and are left in place until spring cleanup.
Rb

I overwinter hundreds to thousands in pots. Growers in northern zones, like mine, can leave them outside without many losses if there is adequate snow cover. Otherwise, care must be taken to protect the pots from the freeze-thaw winter cycle, which can be very damaging.
Pots should be moist, but not wet, going into winter. some growers overturn pots to prevent them from taking on more moisture. I used to always go out in early spring to remove the thawing snow/ice from the pots to prevent root rot. This was only necessary in very wet, cold springs with warm days and freezing nights.
It is essential to bait for mice and voles.
We now overwinter inside an unheated cold frame because foliage emerges earier that way and the hosta are ready for early spring sales. We check several times each winter for mice/vole damage and proper moisture. The cold frame is wrapped in opaque plastic to keep the sun out.
We have had little luck overwintering hosta grown in soiless mix.
We live about 150 miles northwest of the city of Toronto where winter starts early, snow is consistent, and spring is never early enough.

Thank you all so much for your advice! I have seen so many pictures on this site of plants in pots, It made me wonder since I have never kept any in pots. The ones that I have now, I will probably plant before winter, but I was curious anyway.

McT, I was So sorry to see that you lost so many last year! The first year I planted in this house, deer ate almost every one to the ground. They did come back, but after all the money and my hard work, I actually cried!

What do you use for mice/vole bait, Ninamarie?

I'm in MD and over winter one Cherry Berry in a plastic pot. She was slug bait, so I put her in a pot not caring if she made it or not. Of course, now she is beautiful. I do nothing here to protect her.

Lots of vole/shrews here, regular old rat bait. The green blocks thrown in the hole with a big rock over the hole to keep the raccoon from digging it out.

Hi Sandy, Doesn't it figure the one you really don't care about makes it while the favorite one you pamper dies? ~sigh~

Where are you in Maryland? I'm in north-western Montgomery County, almost to Frederick.

Here in zone 6 I grow dozens and dozens of hostas in pots of pine and hardwood bark. Last winter I only lost two and those were ones that were too shallow and some roots became exposed. I don't tip them over, I don't do anything to them except let the leaves collect on top of them. I have a magnolia and an oak that drop their indestructable leaves all over the place and the hostas seem to like it. They sit outside all winter and undergo several freezes and thaws and it doesn't seem to hurt them. I realize this may not work for people in colder climates, but in 6 and 7 it's clear to me we can do this and not fuss so much about them.

Lainey

Contact with the ground is a MUST!!!! We've found here in Wisconsin that as long as the pot is in contact with Mother Earth they survive. Last fall I dug 2 clumps of Hyacinthina and Pineapple Poll. I left the root balls with dirt on them sitting on the ground and never got to planting them. They survived and even flourished this spring. Burying the pot is probaby best, but good ground contact works here.

Dave

I am in Maryland too, Christine, (though a little colder) and I winter my pots in my shed. I just put them in when they die back and leave them there all winter. I do it every year and rarely lose any. I do have a few I have left outside, and those have been fine too.

Ginny, I'm not sure of the name of the product we use, which probably means we buy whatever is on the shelf. We are not licensed for pesticides, and, in fact, mice bait is the only pesticide we use.
We put pelleted mice bait in gallon pots, and then put empty gallon pots inside. This protects the bait from our cats and most other animals. Mice and voles are able to get to the bait through the pot's drainage holes.
It's imperative to check occasionally. Sometimes the mice or voles will not accept one kind of bait and we have to switch. Sometimes they finish the bait, and then move on to attack the plant roots. The most critical time seems to be late winter or early spring, before we open the cold frame to the elements. Mice and voles are ravenous then, and their other food sources seem more scarce.
We bait the entire nursery this way, with random pots stuck in throughout and then collect them in spring.
Plants must be close to or in contact with the ground, as Dave says. We have lost plants that we have forgotten and left on the tables. I suppose the plants and the roots are deep frozen then, without any chance of survival. In our case, we used to leave the plants on wooden skids on the ground. We found survival higher this way.

This thread is loaded with contradictions. Are you thoroughly confused yet, Chris?

Hi Maryann : )

I think I understand what everyone is saying. It's like McTavish said, depends on the zone (maybe).

I think what I am going to do is plant most everything but experiment with a couple of my duplicates. That way I can see what works here for me.

Thanks again, everyone!