One thing to add to my previous reply, I don't do ceramic pots. I know that could be a game changer. I've had some in clay pots and they might last a year or two outside but sooner or later they will break.

The options seem to be:

1. shed/unheated garage (not the garage you use for your car, but a space that stays cold all the time)

2. north side of the house, on the side, covered with a tarp

3. some specially built container that will keep the containers dry and cold.

I'm lucky. i generally can just leave mine where they sit. That didn't work so well for me last winter, as we had lots of rain and I lost several. I'll know better next winter.

bkay

My hosta in ceramic pots go in my unheated shed. They usually go in the shed in November after frost and the foliage dies back. I ignore them till spring. I will check on them in March or April depending on the weather and bring them out when they have pipped. Over a decade I have only lost one.

Sherry

Well I may be in trouble then. I have ceramic pots and the garage is the one we use for the 2 cars. Don’t have anywhere to put a shed. 😂😂
Guess I better get started!!

debra

Hello from Florida. I figured I would add my 2 cents in and do not do what I do. The plants that are here now will be moved back into the condemned green house and the hostas move outside. My ground is rumored to be 58 degrees in the winter and that is too hot, and I do not want to bend that much anymore so up they go. I feel with a chill all around them for the four freezing days I get really helps. It rains on them and this way they are not also sitting in possible water as they would if on the ground. And I know this will freak a few out if there but if there is no rain for a while I water them. With the hose. Dry pot equals dry roots. Finger test always.

Now I need to rant here: I miss the degree key and now the cent key that were once on the typewriters when I took typing.

Debra, I think the main thing is to keep them cold and avoid any circumstances of freeze and thaw ( direct sunlight)

I think Lindalana has the best idea for you to cover, on the side and in the shade.

Off topic, have you found any spots for daylilies?? ; )

Sherry

I used to have few ceramics that were frost tolerant I think they did few seasons outdoor with no issues. Otherwise it was pot in a pot or plastic decorative pot like Allen Roth products.

Sherrygirl, I don’t have the sun for day lilies. Sun that I do have has been taken up buy other perennials and sun tolerant hostas.

debra

They still need occasional water in winter because the roots are alive. I use frost-resistant clay pots and plastic. I huddle them together in the relative shade left in my yard. Remember, I have a lot of big oak trees…I make sure that they are not under the eaves of the house so that rain water falls on them. I used the brown oak leaf fall in autumn to cover and surround the pots. I put plastic mesh or chicken wire over the pot islands to keep the squirrels away. Because I get no snow cover, heaving can be a problem. Probably 3% of my hostas don’t survive because winter is often interrupted by false spring/summer days.

As a follow up, cut worms, slugs, plant suicidal frost-heaving, and mid-late spring “sudden death disease” are my big problems.

Utog, how do you deal with cutworms? I used sluggo plus, but that didn’t seem to work. I used it as directed, 1 teaspoon per square yard. I think it was bkay who said she used it more extensively and she had good results. I treat for slugs in the fall……wonder if I should do the same for cutworms???

debra

I think the best way to overwinter pots is to bury them in your garden. I also put them in my unheated garage. I am not sure why bkay mentions that the unheated garage should be one that is not used for cars. We have one car in our unheated double garage that we use regularly. I don't find it a problem. In spring time when it can get warm outdoors, I ask my husband not to keep the garage door open for very long. I don't want the garage temperature to rise and have the hosta begin growing earlier than they already do.

I also have a window well that is on the north side of our house. My husband always said he thought that was one of the best places for hosta pots because the temperature there never fluctuated suddenly. It is covered by a wooden walkway. I have been putting hosta pots there for several years now. But last winter mice decided to live there and damaged a few of my pots. Now I'm worried that the mice will return next winter and now sure how to protect my hosta.

Why not double pot your hosta so that you can remove them from your ceramic pots for the winter?

Debra, I believe you know that most of my hostas are in pots. Having said that, where I live my problem is not so much freeze/thaw cycles but rain and lots of it. That potentially leads to waterlogged pots and root rot. So for me by sorta mid November I set about to sheltering the pots under 5 gallons into a makeshift greenhouse to allow me to stack 3 shelves with pots but with a decent airflow from the outside air. I only leave my deepest and heaviest pots in place and only struggle with those every 3 years or so to replace the medium. My routine is dictated by my weather but if you look at what others have recommended and what I do you will find the common objective is to avoid root rot. We all deal with it in accordance with our predominant winter weather.

Pieter

Cut worms sort of have taken away my love of gardening. They seem to be unstoppable.

No, I did not say Sluggo plus (or no plus either) would kill cutworms, because it's my understanding that it won't. As far as I know, you have to put the insecticide on the leaves (spray), and they have to eat it. They only eat leaves.

They are the caterpillar form of moths. They feast about 2 weeks and then disappear.

Back in the olden days of my hosta love, I would go out at night (when they come out to eat) with a flashlight and pick them off the plants. My hosta love isn't that strong anymore.

bkay

Sorry bkay, I must’ve misunderstood or maybe it was someone else. I did pick slugs off of some hostas at night but have never seen a cutworm on a leaf. I have found a couple at the base of a hosta digging underneath the mulch/dirt.

debra

I just found this: "Most cutworm species have one or two generations per year, but some have three or four generations and moths may be found from spring to fall."

3 years ago I put a lot of hostas in large plastic pots. Pulled them into an old play structure which is about a foot off the ground and has another wooden level above it. So there is some air movement from the open sides. I pulled a heavy tarp over them and tucked it under the sides. Most survived well. Then 2 years ago, I did the same, and I lost a bunch of special plants that I got from a nursery that is in North Carolina. The plants just disappeared, no roots, etc. Last year I didn't have time to do much, I left some in pots out in the yard uncovered and a bunch on the play structure again but loosely covered. Most made it but not the NC ones. I don't use ceramic or clay pots since they would break. Last winter was very mild and lots of mine did very well. It all depends on the weather, amount of snow/rain and how early it starts to warm up. I forgot and tossed a pot on a garage shelf and they did well without any additional water. I usually don't have time to do much since November/December is extremely busy for me. So much pends on the weather.

Newhostalady, when you say “bury them in the garden”, do you mean plant them?

debra

Sorry Debra, didn't see your question until now.

When I said it was "good to bury them in the garden," I meant plant the hosta with the pot. I have done that for a few years now with my smallest pots. I would do it with larger pots, but I don't have a vegetable garden that is emptied by the fall. So I am using spaces here and there in my flower beds. I have planted hosta pots, herb pots and small coral bell pots. Sometimes I have put a tarp over a specific area if it is filled with a lot of pots practically side by side and there is a lot of rain early in spring. I don't want the pots to get waterlogged. But I don't keep the tarp on all winter.

Miles, overwintered pots should make contact with the ground because the ground has some warmth and insulating properties.

The last two winters hare have been quite warm with very little snow. The only hostas that I lost were the ones from NC. Otherwise, the ones in uncovered pots in the beds as well as the pots on the plan structure wrapped in tarp all did well. I did lose other perennials in the beds. We haven't had a lot of moisture the last 2 years. Everything is suffering from the lack of water. We had a horrible storm here last Tuesday that wiped out power for many cities and towns near Lake Erie. We just got back internet and phone service today. The rain has all sunk into the ground since we have been in a drought since April. It's difficult to keep everything watered. We water for hours each evening.

Many of the members of my hosta club do something similar to what I do. Often they put pots of hostas inside garden sheds or unheated garages. They occasionally water during winter but very sparingly.

Newhostalady, I don’t think I could bury the ceramic pots in the garden…..? But plastic pots work you’re saying. I also have 6 4X2 feet, 8 inches deep, raised off the ground veggie beds. Maybe burying plastic pot there could work, or do you or anyone have a thought on thank? I did plant a two hostas in the beds to see if they would survive. One did, but I don’t think the other one did, but it may have been in decline. I did not cover them or protect them in any way. I could mound leaves around them and cover them if need be.

Anyone’s opinion on this?????

debra

Debra, I went back and read your original posts and the responses you received. I cant imagine doing all of that extra digging and such. I think you were on the right track with the unheated garage…..place the pots near outside wall of the garage if possible. This mimics the unheated shed which works wonderfully in our climate. BTW all of my hosta are in ceramic pots…..havent lost any pots or hosta in ceramic.

Sherry

Debra, do not bury ceramic pots. I would suggest the pot in pot method. That way the hosta would be easier to remove when you need to repot. Yes, plastic pots buried for the winter do well. Ceramic pots would be better in an unheated shed or garage.

I don't think off the ground veggie beds would be good for overwintering pots. Best if the veggie bed were on the ground.

I just had an idea. What if you just covered your pots? I had a picture in my mind of a pot with a plate (concave side up) atop a hosta pot.

bkay

Bkay, hmmmm…..then put them in the garage? That’s an idea. I will have to go to the Goodwill to buy some plates then. Thanks!

debra