rescued hostas!

10 years ago

I usually post on the Perennials Forum but this post is probably more appropriate here.....

A (perfectly nice!) house on the street behind us is due to be torn down in a week or so to make way for a larger, new home. There is/was a row of five nice blue hostas (maybe 'Halycon'....?) across the front below the living room window. This past Tuesday we finally ran into the new owners and asked if we could rescue the hostas before the house came down, and offered to divide the survivors and return some of them to them if they wanted them back for the new house. They agreed to that.... Today was the first day it was convenient for us to go dig them up. Three of them had already disappeared! (This picture was taken after DH had already dug out one of the two remaining.)

There was another patch of hostas nearby - a different variety I think - so we took a small piece of that too.

We split them into smaller chunks and ended up with 12 or so which we potted up into the big pots we use for growing peas and tomatoes on the driveway. We will store the potted hostas in the unheated garage for the winter and plant them out next spring. We've always had good luck with overwintering potted hostas in the garage. Since we don't really need a dozen or so new hostas, there should be lots to share with the owners of the property if they want some back.

Definitely inexpensive hostas! :-)

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nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis

10 years ago

good for you..way too much waste in our throw away society..glad you saved them..

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Comments (7)

sherrygirl zone5 N il
10 years ago
That's a great thing to do! Everybody wins!

Sherry
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sandyslopes z5 n. UT
10 years ago
I always like a hosta rescue story. I hope they reward you with vibrant growth. ...So three were missing by the time you got there. Must be a hostaholic in the area!
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
great... why do you need them in pots ....???

biggest problem with pots.. is that they might flush out a month or 2 early ... and then you have all the frost/freeze issues .. of z5 ...

if you have a veg garden going down ... stick them in mother earth.. and forget about them ...

ken
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Ken - we have no vegetable garden here - other than what we grow in those big pots on the driveway! The backyard here is very shady, so no suitable sunny place for a vegetable garden - the only sunny space available for veggies is the driveway, so we grow them there :-)

Planting the hostas in pots will make it easier in the spring to give some back to the property owners if they decide they want to use them in the garden at the new house. The ground is still too dry here after the summer drought to make planting them in the garden a very good idea. Plus, I'm not entirely sure where I'm going to plant the ones we keep - but do know I will need to move a few things that will be easier to do when they are still dormant in spring.

We sometimes grow hostas in pots by the foot of the front steps, store them in the garage for the winter, and then plant them out into the garden in the spring. We've never had any problems with survival or starting regrowth too early. The garage is unheated. We store all the big pots in there for the winter and they frequently have things growing in them (e.g. most of DH's garlic is planted in the pots in the fall; leeks do well in the pots in the garage in winter and can be harvested in the winter - ditto carrots! Heucheras regularly winter over in pots there; ditto 'mums and hostas.) We usually put the pots into the garage in late Nov. or early Dec. and bring them back out the last week of March or the first week of April, depending on the weather. The pots usually get a bit of water in early Feb. if temperatures are mild and the garlic is starting to grow.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
you know the drill.. so go for it ...

i would suggest ice cubes or snowballs for watering ... watering can can be a problem ... the idea is that they melt.. when the soil warms enough to melt them ... as compared to too much water.. when they might not need it ... i would also err towards too dry .. rather than sodden with dormant plants ...

you can get ice trays at dollar store.. and in winter.. you can probably make them outside .. if your z5 is like mine ...

ken
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
Original Author
10 years ago
Ken - our zone 5 is probably a bit warmer than yours :-) We're close enough to the lake to get the benefit of lake-effect warming and the garage faces south so, as long as the weather's sunny, the garage can warm up a fair bit. By the time we give the pots in the garage water in late winter, the pots are thawed but still cold. Snowballs are an interesting idea - assuming we have any snow left to make them with by then! I'd worry the ice cubes might damage the emerging garlic foliage though.

While walking the dog this morning, we ran into the lady who gave us permission to take the hostas. We commented on the fact that three were already gone when we went to dig them out. She said she knew that - because her mother had dug them out! She also said she had had a lot of hostas in the garden at their previous house.... It appears that they are going to fit into the neighbourhood well - gardeners, with a nice dog too :-)