Is there somewhere you can heel in the plants in their pots in your yard for the winter? If they stay in an unheated garage without much of a root ball, the roots may freeze and they absolutely must be watered.

my ground and the hosta in it.. freezes to about 2 feet every winter .... no big deal ....

nor if in pots ...

lets be clear.. fall just started.. winter is not until `12/23 .... they can and should be planted ... soon ...

even if all you do.. is dig a wide enough hole for all of them ... and unpot them.. and just stick them in ... let ma nature take care of them ...

as to the driveway .. not a good idea in winter.. they will not appreciate a good trip thru the snowblower.. this isnt fargo ... lol ...

if they must go in the garage ... keep them cold a possible.. and once in a while... give them a snowball or a few ise cubes ... no watering can ,.... you dont want the roots frozen into an ice block ... they need air ..

the beauty of cubes or snowball.. is it melts on warmer days... when the media can process some little water ...

all you want to do.. is give them enough water.. that they dont end up like that frozen chicken in the bottom of the freeze ... all dried out.. desiccated ...

dormant hosta do NOT need water ... but you can NOT allow the media to suck water out of the roots ...

the downside to the garage.. is that they may come active.. a month before they can go outside ... due to frost/freeze ..

a lot of all that.. doesnt apply to you in z7.. if it were me... in z7 .... i would just put them on the north side of the house .. no sun on the pot itself .. and then come jan.. tip them on their sides.. so cold rain doesnt swamp the pot in winter ... too much water on a dormant hosta is as bad as too little... due to how the media might work ...

frankly in z7;... you can probably just forget about them completely... and you shouldnt have any problems ... the garage is a wast of time.. imo ...

but really... just slam them in somewhere... probably do that faster than carrying them all to the garage ... dont make excuses.. make it easy ... just get it done

ken

Do you have a veggie garden? I use my raised bed where I grow tomatoes in the summer as a heel-in spot for many of my hostas for the winter. I plant them there, cover them with some leaves and a small wire waste basket over them to prevent critters from bothering them.

I move in 2 weeks. My fabric grow potted hostas and heuchies will spend the winter on my new roofed balcony, on wire shelving units. That's all I can offer them. I sure hope they make it.

I've stored hosta in pots in my unheated shed..they were moist going into the shed..I never watered them..they did just fine..this Regal Splendor spent the winter in my shed..I put the pot in a garbage bag then dumped some leaves on it for insulation..I put some 4 inch pots in a box, put some leaves on them and closed the box..if I were you I think I'd put the pots in a covered box in the garage and forget it..the box keeps dirt off the floor and might keep the soil from drying out as much..

Almost every year I drag a dozen pots (mostly hostas) into the unheated attached garage for winter. Some I overbought, some are ICU with only 2 leaves, minis etc. I make sure they are moist, but not water logged. Remove all leaves and toads. then I stack them in a tall cardboard box against the wall. I don't water them & usually bring them out early, maybe March. If I wait too long, they start growing and curve around the pot on top of them. I know they can stand the cold, it's the freeze and thaw and especially mice/voles that concern me.

Nicholworth, the added leaves is great idea for shed.

pandora..I use oak leaves..they're sturdy and easy to remove when I unpack the hostas..we're basically doing the same thing..

Nicholsworth, when you say you use a box to put pots in, do you mean a cardboard box (not plastic)?

newhostalady..yes just a cardboard box..I also put a box inside the garbage bag before I put Regal Splendor in it..it's easier to carry the bag with a box in the bottom for support..the boxes keep the mess contained and add some insulation..the boxes need to be thrown away in the spring..too dirty to save..

My thought was that over wintering pots in sheds or garages needed to have some air circulation in order to prevent fungus/mold growth. Maybe the thing is that when the pots are frozen, it doesn't matter then? But come early spring---before growth even starts---the box should be removed?

The reason I am asking this is that I have found that smaller sized pots (say 5-6 inch size) dry out too much in the unheated shed or garage. I have heard of putting a snowball or ice cubes on the pots in winter, but I also have read "never water your frozen pots." Isn't snow or ice cubes similar to watering hostas and could contribute to crown rot?

it's confusing isn't it?..so far I haven't had any mold..occasionally I've left the shed doors open awhile on a nice winter day..my pots are plastic which probably helps retain moisture compared to clay..I read this about storing tubers - cool and dry equals dormant but cool and wet equals rot..I thought it might apply to hosta too..I've wondered if in a climate colder than mine where the plants are in storage longer could not watering kill them?..

Thanks Babka!