I say sit them on the soil under the porch and pile leaves about 4in deep above the pot and forget them until spring then start watching for new growth.

Do not uncover until they come up.

See this for more and many will disagree with me.

Here is a link that might be useful: overwinter

Well,I don't know what zone you are in,but I agree with Butch. They should be fine. We don't have freeze/thaw weather down here,but I have never lost a hosta,due to freezing. Cold snaps in early spring have set back some of my growing hostas,but never lost. Your tendency,when spring comes,is to move leaves away from the hosta eyes,but resist the urge,until hostas actually grow above the leaves. Even then,there can always be late spring freezes,so you have to pay attention to weather forecasts. Last year we had a nasty freeze in April,even after our last frost date,and I had to scramble to cover all my hostas that had already come up in March! This is a little long,but I can't stress enough what Butch and I said. Phil

i am sorry .. i couldnt read everything you typed... big weather headache today ...

the key... NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE ....

GET THEM DORMANT.. KEEP THEM DORMANT .... as long as possible ...

no black pots in the sun thawing.. or coming out of dormancy in some freak high temps.. 3 months early ... meaning.. mulch or cover them with something to keep them cold on warmish winter days ...

cover that.. and you are all set ...

also ... the problem with smallish pots.. is their tendency to dry out completely ... you dont want them wet... but you dont want them bone dry ... gotta figure that part out also ...

ken

I just put to bed about 20 pots, for the winter. They are still leafed out, most of them
and I have chosen a bed I've put all my extra composted cow manure in to 'plant' them in
their pots.

They are snuggled in and in December (zone 5/6) I will dump bags of mulched leaves on them.

The way things are going around here, I might be able to do that even sooner.
I wait for a good holding freeze to do that!!!

I am a little concerned for my smaller pots--the ones I received from some on-line sources.
I have them planted as the big ones, and slightly tilted!

Hi Jakki, Follow the advice above from 3 Pros of the Hosta Forum. The young tc's you get from Clayton, myself and others when potted or planted and protected from hard freeze will do fine the next year in your new garden. Anything that doesn't make it from me let me know for replacements in the spring. Hope you feel better with your plans for your new garden.
John
PS Hey J, I have 1200 3" pots to put to bed for the winter, want to help??!!! Free Cookies!!!!!

I don't know about Janice, but I'd take you up on that if I were closer John!

I had some delays getting mine in the ground, but they went in yesterday. I'm covering them a couple of nights because of temps in the low 30's then hope to have a week or two to let them get settled in before a killing frost. Hopefully those roots will keep doing their thing. I'm not too worried about them as there is a LOT of snowfall here in the winter. Several feet of snow mulch ought to do the trick :-)

Oh dear, John! As much as I'd LOVE to come help you 'tuck' yours in, too--these days,
my girlish figure couldn't endure the assault of the amount of cookie-rewards it would take,
to induce me 'make the trip'!! LOL

Actually--'girlish' is not quite the most accurate description of me these days,
try 'WOMANLY'---or, maybe 'matronly' even better?? Gak--I know 'where's the beef'!!!

But, hey--- thanks for the offer, anyway! LOL

John - how did you know it was me? Guess you put 2 and 2 together from my rambling emails to you on eBay!!! But, I didn't know you knew/guessed about my affair with Clayton's little lovelies too!

Thanks for all the help everyone - I am going to read all your advice, and the advice on a couple of the other threads about over-wintering hosta.

When I've come up with a plan, I'll get back to you, more succinctly, and ask you if what I have come up with is appropriate for the minis and tc's I've got. I know this isn't a question everyone will agree on - but I hope someone who has expertise with the smaller/est hostas will weigh in.

Again - thanks everyone, I appreciate you all managing to get through my worse than usual rambles to find my actual question! - I'm not known for brevity at the best of times!

Jakki

What I suggested was what I did with my TC plants that were far smaller than yours.

OK - that sounds good esther opal - I hope you didn't think I was belittling your information - if you did, I apologize.

What is your zone? Do you get a lot of snow/frost heaving in your winter?

I have lost quite a few plants, not just hosta which seem to weather the winter a little better than other, to frost heave. Sometimes almost all my hosta roots are above ground when I get to them in the spring.

This year because of my back and not getting out to the garden, the deer and rabbits have been feasting! I am hoping the green stalks will provide enough green for the plants to gather a little strength. One other thread I have read suggests that I might be lucky!

Thanks again for your help - and again I hope you didn't feel that I was just disregarding your information. There is so much knowledge out there - I sometimes get overwhelmed trying to sort out what could be the most beneficial path for me to take! Mind you, I understand that nothing is guaranteed.

Jakki

I hope you didn't think I was belittling your information - if you did, I apologize."

Not to worry, I usually talk about what I've done or researched in some way. Sometimes you will get what seems conflicting advice here because more than one method will work. I don't take much personal unless it is clearly directed as personal.

"What is your zone? Do you get a lot of snow/frost heaving in your winter?"

Z5-6 and we don't have much heaving problem but that is mainly a lack of mulch cover on freshly planted plants.