Can't tell you about the blacks.. All my blacks are dark green.

I pot when:
a. I don't have time to plant
b. the roots aren't established enough
c. nematodes have struck... I'll pot these forever and put them in full sun for a year or two
d. I want a pretty hosta on my patio
e. tree roots

there are no black hosta ... IMHO .... all marketing hype .... they are all green in my garden ... and no different than all the other greens .. and others are darker than most claiming to be black ....

ken

pot for extra TLC or to 'hold them over' until they can be properly planted ... ken

I guess my blackest would be Black Hills,but no hosta is truly black. I only have a few in pots. There is more of a challenge to grow them in the ground,where they belong. Phil

Good old ventricosa is one of the darkest in my garden. And it often has those wonderful ruffles to go along with the deep dark color.

Alexa

Why pot?

One word: Voles.

(They don't care about tree roots. The hosta, that is.)

Tree roots are my main reason to pot. With the additional water and fertilizer the tree roots simply strangle the hostas. Several seem to get smaller each year. We have several of the same varities, some in the ground and some in pots. The plants in the pots are twice as large and come up earlier. We are in Zone 8 and I do't know how the little cold weather we have effects the plants. It seems to me like the pots would get colder and warm up faster in the spring. We are moving all 250 varities to pots starting this spring.

For those up north that pot, how do you over wointer the potted hosta? Do you bring them in,leave them out side?

In my garden, when planted in a 20 gallon pot of pine bark, peat, and humus, mine come back with no problem. The reason I pot is that often I don't know where I want to plant something, so I put it in a pot for a year or two until I get through moving things around and know where i want the hosta planted.

Most pots have drainage to allow water to drain. In the winter this drainage can freeze causing the pot to not to drain. Now you have a bowl that can fill up with water all the way to the top, may not be a problem except you have the freeze thaw problem on top of this ice cube.

The best method is to stop watering before freeze and put them in an unheated garage to avoid freeze/thaw. Dormant hosta need so little water that the moisture in the media in the pot will probably be enough.

If you want to plant under a tree AND avoid the tree roots the nursery industry has a really simple solution. Spin-Out treated bags treated with copper hydroxide paint.

Personally I don't care how big they get as long as they don't die.

Canadian Shield & Lakeside Black Satin are the darkest, and they really ARE dark - though the dark colour takes part of the season to build up.
Black Hills isn't very black.

I pot mine up because I can't dig in the shade with all those tree roots. I love re-arranging my pots to suit my mood. Some pots are on buckets, cement blocks, bricks, etc. to vary the heighth of the arrangements.
ESTHER: PLEASE EXPLAIN Spin-Out treated bags!!!
We need to know. Thanks.
Michele

digs, Black Hills wasn't named that because it was black. It is the dark green color of the Black Hills of South Dakota, hence the name. Blackfoot isn't black either, it's yellow.

Many years ago the University of Oklahoma developed a bag fashioned from spun-bonded material similar to weed cloth but thicker to grow trees in the ground. Worked well but the roots would penetrate the bags losing the value of growing in a bag that held all the roots within the bag. Removing this root ball enclosed in the bag eliminated the root shock digging while the plant is actively growing.

Roots will not grow through copper mesh so someone found that copper hydroxide could be mixed with latex paint (Spin-Out) and sprayed on this cloth. Now the roots will not grow out of the bag and outside roots will not grow in.

Plant hosta in this "spin-out" treated bag; the tree roots will not grow into the hosta root zone. Water, nutrients and soil organisms will pass back and forth with out any problem.

I finally found Spin-out, but they sell it by the yard - $1.00 a yard. This is a retail nursery and I'm wondering if I would have better luck with a wholesaler or commercial nursery /maintainence company. More info as soon as I find answers. But 'by-the-yard' would work, no? I guess I'd have to fashion a 'bag' myself with staples or something. Thought I'd go to another forum with this but not sure which. I'll keep you posted if I make any progress.

Esther_opal: WHY HAVEN'T YOU TOLD US THIS BEFORE!!!!

Westy

I've mentioned spin out several times, you are the first to ask a single question.

$1.00 a yard seems cheap to me, fashion it like a coffee filter, maybe staple it until it is in place. Remember it needs to be about 18 inches deep and big enough around to accommodate the hosta in question. Use the soil that came out of the hole, you don't want it to become hydrotropic. Remember it will settle so leave some above the soil for the 1st couple of years.

Really to easy compared to all the angst many have about tree roots.

Hey now, I LIKE my Black Hills hosta! It's a great plant - and it's growing well (from 6 eyes last year, it's 13 this spring). It has terrific texture, and it makes a great backdrop for the more "exciting" varieties.

Why pot? right now I'm potting all my TC (tissue culture) underperforming fry from 2 yes TWO years ago that are still not doing very much...single eye and small... In the ordinary ground here they must contend with cedar & maple root competition galore, so by potting them in very light, compost enriched mix, I'm giving them a chance to develop mature root systems with no competition. For the same reason I'm also potting all the (supposedly non-TC, but emphatically under-matured) nursery-bought hosta under-performers from the past couple of years. And I'll plonk them right down to ground level in a spot where they'll get lots of light. Watering the entire bunch will be a cinch, and from experience I know they'll survive the Canadian winter just fine when the pots are flush with the ground (a little bark much over the tops before winter doesn't hurt).

No hostas yet with black leaves. There are a few with black scapes (let me know if you want that list). Below is the list of hostas with the darkest leaves. Plant them in deep shade and use epsom salts to make the leaves the darkest. Don

VERY DARK GREEN HOSTAS

ÂBetsy KingÂ
ÂBlack BeautyÂ
ÂBlack ForestÂ
ÂBlack JackÂ
ÂCanadian ShieldÂ
ÂCarolina BlueÂ
ÂDark TowerÂ
ÂDevon GreenÂ
ÂDe Luxe EditionÂ
ÂDragonÂ
ÂEbony EchosÂ
ÂEdge of NightÂ
ÂGrand SlamÂ
ÂHooties Coal DustÂ
ÂIce CreamÂ
ÂIndian HillsÂ
ÂJavaÂ
ÂJosephÂ
ÂKiwi Black MagicÂ
ÂKiwi MidnightÂ
ÂKryptoniteÂ
ÂLakeside AccoladeÂ
ÂLakeside Black IceÂ
ÂLakeside Black SatinÂ
ÂLakeside Coal MinerÂ
ÂLakeside Ebony EchoesÂ
ÂLakeside Emerald LightsÂ
ÂLakeside LollipopÂ
ÂLakeside Midnight MassÂ
ÂLakeside Pillow TalkÂ
ÂLakeside Ring MasterÂ
ÂLeather SheenÂ
ÂMidnight RideÂ
ÂNeat and TidyÂ
ÂObsessionÂ
ÂParty TimeÂ
ÂPeridotÂ
ÂPolished JadeÂ
ÂPotomac PrideÂ
ÂPuckered GiantÂ
ÂQuilting BeeÂ
ÂSea EbonyÂ
ÂSecond WindÂ
ÂSlick WillieÂ
ÂSpinach PatchÂ
ÂTemple BellsÂ
ventricosa
ÂWhite EdgerÂ
ÂWookey HoleÂ

'Ice Cream', Don? Did you throw that in to see if we were paying attention?

Lakeside Black Satin is one of my darkest {{gwi:977194}} but Lakeside Storm Watch will probably push it for black. Sorry I don't have a picture yet of Storm Watch. It came up a nice green but the older leaves are turning very dark and the newer leaves are still green. The darkness is definitely coming as the leaves age.

thumbnail is clickable

Oops, I think 'Ice Cream' was supposed to go to GLOSSY LEAVED HOSTAS. I'll take that one of the list, and add 'Lakeside Storm Watch.' Thanks, Don

Thanks everyone for the insight and opinions. Don - I have cut a pasted your list into my 'WANT REAL BAD' binder. Much appreciate all the time to help me out.

I had no idea there were so many black (darkest green possible is what I really mean - not actually black - just to clarify).

And Esther_Opal: I will be making my Spin-out coffee-filter-shaped bags as soon as I get another order of 12 in the ground. And then I'll have to order more to put in the bags! Thank you for that valuable advice.

Westy

ventricosa 'Darth Vader'(NR) is the darkest one I've seen and has a sheen. Not yet available and you may have to wait awhile. The grower doesn't believe in releasing new ones until they have remained stable for at least 10 years! (Old School).
Rb

Westy, at $1 per yard, you could stitch together a really big bag and line the entire bed. Get a grave digger to help you. :)

Maryann - is that 3:05 a.m. on Friday or yesterday afternoon! And for ONCE I'm way ahead of you - I've already commissioned my son to create a new bed this weekend and I'm lining it with Spin-out. Now watch it rain for the first time in a week.

Razorback: That is SO NOT Fair! There should be some kind of volunteer trial offering - they do it for Iris and Daylilies! We could all be dead by the time the beauties are available.

Westy

The grower doesn't believe in releasing new ones until they have remained stable for at least 10 years! (Old School).
Rb

I think this attitude is simple BS, hosta are so unstable which is why we have so many and why hosta are such fun to have. But waiting 10 years should mean that nothing ever gets introduced and if one waits 10 years then divides this "stable" plant it is likely to sport off that division. Tell the grower I think he is trying to carve out some superior position and is selfish, fat, ugly and his mother doesn't dress him well. Send me a division NOW and I will tell him when to register the plant.

Wow, that felt good. As soon as I post this I'm going to tell Ken off real good.

DIGS 57,

Thank you Thank you! I have been trying to identify the big black hosta I saw in the Winter Greenhouse Display Garden for YEARS! It was unmarked and no one knew its name. It was LAKESIDE BLACK SATIN! I knew if I ever saw it again (and I did, when I looked it up in the Hosta Library after reading your post above), I WOULD recognize it! Now to find it and BUY it! I'm so excited that I'm doing a little hosta jig!

Char

I wrote to Mary Chastain, the Lakeside hybridizer, about 'Black Satin' and 'Coal Miner' to ask her which was darker. That email died in a computer crash about two years ago, but as I recall, she said 'Black Satin,' so that's what I bought. And she said they're darker in the shade, if I remember right.

And my 'LBS' nearly gave me a heart attack this spring, see photos at hyperlink. It seems to be darkening up correctly... phew!

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Lakeside Black Satin' -- Oh No --