I can't tell you what to do, Hoover67, but I can tell you my experience with a HF 10x12. We first put it up in 2007. Since then we've had a thunderstorm blow out panels that were secured right well and hail put holes in some panels that time and sunlight made brittle in the Deep Sunny South. We replaced all panels after 4 years. We started out with extra bracing and reinforcement. This winter another storm caved in the door header and blew out 4 panels again. We've repaired all that and added a fan in the opposite end, just in time for another series of thunderstorms today. We are under a tornado watch. We anticipate problems and keep coming up with solutions. The initial cost of the GH is not the only expense. You'll need something for a base, at least a pathway of pavers on the floor, electricity and water source, heat for the winter. In the years before the GH, I put an old kitchen cart in the tool shed and trundled flats of seedlings in and out on sunny days. I grew cuttings in an east-facing laundry room with two windows. Grow lights might be your best solution unless you just enjoy an on-going project as we do. Here is a link that might be useful: NJ's Greenhouse blog, Dotty Plants

It only gets worse. Last summer I finally built the lean-to greenhouse I've been dreaming about/ planning / diagramming for the last ten years. It is 16' x 25' and I can walk straight into it from my basement in my PJ's. Filled it in 2 months with my orchids and now there are 9 flats of flowers and veggies, plus cuttings from last year's geraniums. Poor Husband doesn't seem to mind that I'm out there all the time- it is the only exercise I get all winter. Have fun out there!

Thanks for the info Ellen. And i just got back from HF. The store manager wasn't too happy with my coupon either. He said those are sent to a select group of people and told me the website where it came from. He did honor it and even gave me the online sale price. Final cost 230.00 +tx for the 6x8. Tomorrow i'll be laying out the foundation area. Thanks again....(saved me almost 50%- enough to buy all the extra reinforcing i've been reading about)

Hi d, My experience is that Hostas don't mind the moisture. I have several Hostas that I have sitting in pots, in soil that are submerged about five inches of water (above the pot) in my pond and are doing extremely well. I even have one that is just floating around in the pond (no soil or pot) and is also doing just as good. So I think that they don't mind wet feet. If yours start to look a little under the weather, then replant them in the ground. Good Luck!!