I've had hostas in pots for years now. In late fall I put them against the house and mulch them well, and that's it! They have always come back strong in the spring. The only thing I've found that damages hostas, for me anyway, is in the summer if I let them get too much sun or too little water.

Hmmm, McTavis, I got my S&S in May 2010 up in Massachusetts. It went into the ground there. In 2011 when it went dormant, I dug it up with a lot of soil and put it in a container to come south. It woke up in a pot and I did not notice a setback to juvenile leaves. In fact, it really outgrew the 5 gallons of soil in its pot, and in August when I created my driveway bed, S&S was the first choice to return to the soil of a raised bed. I also put Blue Angel in the ground, never having been in a pot since I got it in 2011, as one of my 3 non-potted hosta. I'll have to check on it in the spring to see if it was set back by the move. Plus, another biggy was Empress Wu. It spent two months in a pot waiting for me to ready the driveway raised bed for it. Within the two months time in the pot, the root system on that hosta grew to fill the small pot. It had been bare root, of course, and the root system was healthy and beautiful. We'll see how it emerges come spring. I am primarily a pot hosta grower. Given the nature of my climate, I keep moving pots around as the sun climbs higher and the shade patterns change. NO HOSTA should have to endure our summer direct sun. But some might have huge root systems after I've allowed the leaves to fry a few times. Thank heaven for big umbrellas. Somewhere around here I have a note about a couple of hostas which definitely do not like pots. But wouldn't you know I cannot recall where I put it? One thing I realized after I'd potted up a LOT of hosta in the WalMart pots with the attached saucers, was they do not drain properly. When some hosta began declining, I first drilled holes in the pot and the saucer. That helped a wee bit. But then Lowes began selling the black smooth plastic pots in great sizes with holes around the sides at the bottom. So even on a table or directly on the ground, they drained nicely. As I've up potted things, those are the pots of choice. There is nothing wrong with a black nursery pot but if you want "pretty" then pop it into an ornamental pot. Me, I just push a lot of them together and skirt the bunch with some liriope or fern. Works for me.

Thanks everyone, I'm glad you enjoyed the pics. The area I pictured above with the container plantings would have been useless due to tree roots. I also use containers to add vertical height to basically flat growing hosta. I'm sorry Connie you lost some of your container plants. The one piece of information I neglected to mention was the containers need to be slightly elevated above whatever surface on which they rest. I keep the containers resting on pavers so the drainage can flow through the pot and not be impeded by garden soil creating a dam. Last year I lost a hypertufa container of Silver Kabitan because I didn't move it off the soil and back onto the landscape timber. My laziness in the fall let the soil stop the drainage. The only other container plant I lost last year in the spring from he!! was Maya Somethingorother which was planted in spring of '06. By the time I got to it to clean up the melted goo, it was rotting. I lost one eye, dug the second eye but it dwindled through the summer and didn't reappear this year. Considering all the plants I lost in the ground last year and if some survived, forgot to come back this year, the containers were great. Mary52, the Titanic is in a container as tall as a whiskey barrel but not quite as wide. A mature Sum and Substance needs a whiskey barrel. I have a Blue Angel several years old that is quite happy in the barrel. Top dressing with compost should be great for the containers - it is when the compost is in the bottom that is the problem. Janice if a hosta is an early riser in the ground, it is an early riser in a container. I have many hosta - Montana Aureomarginata, the plantagenia family, Sagae - all broke dormancy in the ground before any of the containers woke up. You asked about Celestial and Earth Angel - I snapped a couple of pics for you - these were planted in '04. Both are impressive, particularly after last spring and no, I don't have a favorite. Lainey if you get this direction this summer, would love to have you stop by again. We opened up a whole new shade area that has been keeping me occupied.

i would pull out the cup.. without disturbing the plant .. and then put a big stick in the ground.. to insure i didnt step on them in winter ... all such sticks are placed on the south side of a plant.. so i know.. for certain .. that the plant is to the north ... i used to do it randomly .... and learned the hard way ... you have them nestled in mother earth ... but you have included a man made variable... which might make a difference.. in winter... though i have no clue how it would all work in SC .... they are hosta.. NOT BABIES .... dig them up and throw them on the driveway for winter.. they wont care ... its when we start loving them to much... we tend to add so many variables.. that it is us... that screw it up .... dont love your plants to death .... ken