What do you mean by "cut off"? Do you mean how many before you cut off buying more or the latest in the season?

Yep,pretty much. I move a lot of perennials in the fall but never plant less than gallon sized. Spring is very very busy time for me, and there few cuties mini on clearance now. So would like to get new raised bed going but thinking minies just do have a lot of root mass to begin with? Of course our last winters were warm...

I don't see a problem planting them now. Just be sure to give them plenty of water and you may have to give them extra shade for a couple of weeks to let them adjust. Shade cloth, umbrellas, a lawn chair all make good "baby plant" shade covers.

I have planted minis (Itsy Bitsy Spider, Woodland Elf, Giantland Mouse Cheese etc.) at the end of Sept. and did not have any heave issues. They have done very well but I get a lot of snow and the area stays under snow until late spring. Your conditions could be quite different.

i lost a lot of minis.. from them heaving out of the ground during some mid winter thaw ... and not being found until spring ... freeze drying them to death ... and snow cover didnt make a difference ...

ken

what is your cut off for buying and planting mini Hosta?

==>>> upon rereading.. i see i missed the point entirely ...

the cut off.. back in the day ... was when i ran out of money ... or no one was selling them anymore ... due to end of season ..

on this interpretation... what a silly question ..

now go buy them ... lol

ken

"When I ran out of money"...that's about right Ken. Because even if I tell myself I don't have any more room, I still buy them!

i wonder where all the peeps are.. who have moved all theirs to troughs ... due to all their problems ...

ken

Just to chime in... my cut off is: Until the funds run out. However recently, I have found myself calculating my budget and savings around future hosta purchases, i.e., buy this, not that so that I can have X dollars in savings for Y hosta. One has to have proper priorities, you know? :-D

I cannot chime in for zone info, although the survival of mini and very small hostas is good to know. Thanks

I have 2 mini's in pots that I planted in September to overwinter them in the ground. They came up fine this year - my first with trying mini's this way.

I routinely split and move minis through October, sometimes a bit later, and I'm in zone 5a. Never had any problems with frost heave, but I do amend the dirt when I plant, adding compost and sometimes peat moss. Lighter, looser soil seems to have less frost heave. I also allow all the oak leaves that fall to stay in the hosta beds, sometimes 8-10 inches deep, which probably also helps prevent frost heave. In the spring, the oak leaves start to compost into the soil, and even tiny minis will come up through the leaves. I do help a bit by pulling leaves off if the minis are coming up in the middle of a leaf. Basically, minis are, for the most part, every bit as tough as any other hosta, mine get no special treatment at all, and do very well.

Run over budget long time ago... Lol

however nice to know that minies do well transplanted in the fall. I do pretty much what dhaven describes as I have several oaks on our lot.

Last winter we had winter really bizzare though. 70 mid Feb, people went to beach...then of course cold spring... I do not think our soil got frozen last year at all...

I forgot the leaf part. My gardens are in a large circle cut out of a
hardwood forest. So I have plenty of
leaves which are piled as deep and high on the beds as possible once all plants
are dormant. This keeps the soil warm
and moist, but not wet and I have never encountered frost heave here..

I did plant about 20+ minis in this way two
years ago. They are now all multi eyed
and forming a carpet at the front of the bed.