I purchased 6 of S.R.'s Fire and Ice from their sale. They look just about like yours...very small. I contacted S.R. to ask if I should leave them in their 3-1/2" pots for the winter and was told as long as the roots are not coming out the drainage holes, it would be okay. I plan to move them to either bigger pots or into the ground in the spring.

gfost.. yours look fine.. in the ground ...

dont think about fooling with pots.. since you probably dont have experience with pots ...

we all lose some .. so be it ... otherwise.. they are hosta.. hard to kill them if you try ...

FI is an inherently weaker plant.. because half the leaf is useless white ... hence they are smaller than the rest ... but if it has a good root mass ... good amount of stored energy.. they should be back ...

you might want to put some leaves there.. to help retain soil moisture.. but i would leave 3 or 4 inches of soil exposed around the plant ..... you dont need to bury the crown itself ...

and i dont know what you mean by dried leaves.. are they mulched at all.. ground down a bit??? ... we dont want to suffocate the crown ...

they are fully hardy for your zone.. dont go treating them like babies.. and killing them with too much love ... dont overthink it all

ken

Thanks a lot ken and cacbu :) ken what I mean in dried leaves came from huge maple tree in front of my house,i used them to cover some of my hydrangea . I got a lot of flowers this year some of my dahlia that I left in the ground came out beautifully or I just lucky because we have a warm winter last year . Two years ago we have a lot of freezing rain I got only 1 flower in my hydrangea The winter here are so unpredictable not much snow but just freezing rain sometimes...that makes me worried. I don't have a lot of experience in gardening I have only 1 plant that I put in a pot heucherella redstone falls that I bought this year I don't know what to do lol :) I do really appreciate your help

Those are really small plants. If you lose them, it's likely because they are so small. I bought a bunch of hosta "on sale" a few years ago. Once they arrived, I wanted to send them back. They were so incredibly small that it was ridiculous. I lost most of them.

When you buy plants that small, they should be labeled TCs (tissue cultures) or starter plants. You can buy TC's for $5.00 or less per plant without an "end of the year sale", year round. They do better when planted in the spring, at least in my experience.

There's 3 years of growing to get those plants to a size that is sold by the the major hosta nurseries, like Hallson's, Green Mountain and many others. I suggest you compare what you paid and what it would have cost to buy from a hosta nursery, add three years of work and your losses and see if you got a "deal".

I don't mean to be ugly. I've just been there and done that. I resent someone selling that as an "end of the season" closeout. They did not have those at the beginning of the season. If they did, they would be bigger than that.

My bad experience (and about $150.00 of hosta money squandered) was about 4 years ago with another vendor, but I'm still po'd. (Can you tell?)

bkay

Thanks bkay !!To be honest I was excited when they arrived ...the box is big !I'm so really happy..but when I open it I saw the plants are small ...little bit disappointed, on the other side they are healthy ( hoping they will survive)This is my first time that I bought plants online ...I don't know what to expect.I looked in Google where to buy cheap hosta and I saw hosta direct that they have "sales" but it says TC so didn't buy from them,after few days got email from SRG that they will have season sales when I looked the priced can't resist not to order (I'm so cheap) while I'm waiting to my order I looked in Hallson site and found out that they have "sales" too (to late)thinking if I buy more DH gonna kill me lol:) and beside I don't have much space ...still have columbines,heuchera and fox gloves that I winter sowed...they are in a little pots ...need to plan for next spring listen to everybody's says and learn from everybody's experience...if my new baby hostas survive I will be so lucky gonna do happy dance lol :))

Glad you didn't order from Hosta Direct. Check the reviews here on Garden Web, they are far from stellar. Hallsons is great!

Look at Green Mountain. They have great sized plants and are very reasonable. They don't carry the latest varieties, but if you're new to hosta, there are many older varieties you will want before you have to have the latest variety. The regular posters have compiled lists of the best vendors for hosta. Just search and several threads will come up.

I wish you the best with your little hosta. I hope they do well for you. I don't think you are in an area where they heave, so hopefully they will survive. If you get them through the first spring, you will probably be home free.

bk

not much enabling from bkay .. lol ...

just keep in mind .... if some die.. its a reason to buy more ... yep.. thats the ticket ....

what you are buying ... is a root mass ... for the future ... bigger plants.. have more roots ... which mean they explode the next year ...

yours look like some of my first orders ... when price dictated ... i soon learned.. you can pay a bit more.. and get a bigger.. year older plant .... its part of the learning curve ...

we have some favored vendors... anyone have the old links to those posts???

these plants .. look like TC plugs last spring.. grown out .... places like hallsons ... do not sell until the TC plug.. has been in the ground 2 years.. or more ... so though you might pay a bit more ... you get a year older plant.. which will take off like a rocket the next season ...

regardless.. a box of hosta is a xmas present for adults.. wasnt it ... increased heartbeat.. hyperventilating.. lol ... nothing better .... for the garden ...

ken

Thanks guys:) I'm trying to looked in green mountain but i don't understand my computer or cellphone won't let me to see their site.. I came here in GW to learn how to grow perennials from seeds just little bit tired growing annual every year,t hen getting curious growing shades garden and hosta catched my eyes ...I have two types of plain green hosta plantaginea (thanks ken for IDing )and huge NOID ,i have 3 yrs. old 2 variegated NOID that never getting bigger but I i think they are medium size hosta very slow and 2 mini variegated NOID,bcs of the slugs didn't realize their beauty but DH love those NOID hosta..until I found this forum ..you guys garden are so beautiful it makes me want more lol:) so I bought 1 GE, 1 first frost ,2 Karin (maybe) near by farm and garden supply store this spring and 2 variegated NOID in Walmart...now I'm getting addicted ..HD asked me what I want for Christmas ..you know what my answer is ..lol:) so I'm blaming you guys lol..lol:)) hope DH support me to my new addiction:)

Absolutely love to watch someone's hosta honeymoon!

I checked Green Mountain again and finally allowed me to open their sites,,they have a lot of hosta that I think i can afford and like ,Iam new in hosta so I don't know what are new or old varities, just love to have beautiful hosta garden and everybody's garden photos here are so amazingly beautiful .When Im searching in Google,(where I can buy cheap hosta), i saw Gilbert H Wild and Son Nursery and Shady Acre Perennials (hosta-store.com) both have reasonable priced hosta varieties ..what do you think guys? Honestly, I wanna start and buy plants that I can afford to my little hosta obsession lol:)

You could google for new hosta nurseries and read comments from other customers, like here :

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/52/#b