I saw a few yesterday. They look kinda cold damaged. With the temps predicted for the next two weeks (high of 72F today, only one night with temps below freezing, 31F), I’ll have hostas growing by the time I get back from my winter vacation on March 1. Then the question is how many late freezes will we have?

We, too, have had a warm winter so far, but no pips are showing, even on Irish Luck, which is always my first one up (fingers crossed). February is always a crap shoot. It will be 75 degrees one day and we may have an ice storm the next.

The scary thing is that the year my hosta developed the rhizoctonia root rot was like this - really warm followed by freezing rain for about 2 weeks. I do have some better options this year for protecting them than I had that year, though.

bkay

zkathy..it is too early for pips here :-( my pips will no doubt get hit by freezes..my daffodils are coming up too..

oursteelers..Lol..you're so funny!..it is more fun to discover blooms and leaves rather than buds and pips..

bkay..I hope that I don't have a lot of other pips yet..I haven't looked around..this one hosta by the driveway is so easy to check..it was up in Feb 2019 so yesterday I looked and sure enough it's up again..when it unfurled last year the leaves were damaged..I lived with it quite awhile until it grew more leaves before I cut off the ugly..I would love it if our cold weather was over but that's an impossible dream..good luck with yours..

I threw some hay lightly over my hostas in December? It's been way too warm here in January and this week in the 60s! I don't want to look! I tried to start digging holes in anticipation for a major transplant job I have to do this year and the ground was so slimy, muddy and cold and tree or bush roots so I quit. I had pots of daffodils, alliums and hyacinths under the stairs in my unheated workshop and they sprouted. I had to move them to the unheated greenhouse because the shoots were 6-8" and all yellow. Now they are blooming!!

lkayetwvz..it's too early for plants to come up but it's beyond our control isn't it?..it'll be cold here in a day or two..

It's been extremely mild and wet here in Wales so far this year.

We often get a cold blast from the east before the end of March.

To be able to protect them easily I always keep Montana Aureomarginata and First Love in the cold but well ventilated greenhouse.

They were both showing before the end of January which is the earliest ever.

After reading this post I thought I would just cast my eyes over the rest of the collection.

Battle Star, another early riser was there to greet me.

Dave

Dave..I just looked this up..people here say wait until after Mother's day to be safe from frost..so about 90 days to go..having a greenhouse and the option to move pots would be helpful!..mine are stuck out in the cold..early risers seem to be a concern in lots of locations..

Saw pips on my montana A yesterday.

zkathy..your pips will have an easier time than mine..I put chopped leaves on mine 2 days ago..this is what I saw from my kit window yesterday..winter's not over :-(

I haven’t seen any pips yet in Milwaukee, thank goodness! We are warmer than usual here as well Dave. I will not be surprised to see them early this year though.

I saw daffodils blooming up the street a little while ago.

bkay

bkay..my daffodil leaves are about an inch tall..not close to blooming..it's early for you isn't it to see blooming daffodils the first week of February?..or is it normal?

No, it's early. It's been warm all winter. We've had no ice or snow at all. We rarely get a good snow, but we usually have more freezing temps than we've had this year. We haven't had any weather that required TXDOT to sand the roads. NONE. February is always a crap shoot. It can be 80 degrees one day and freezing rain the next.

No pips yet!

bkay