Welcome to the hosta forum. I too am in the twin cities. I just came in from transplanting hosta. My hosta are up an inch or two. Cool weather is good for planting and after tonight, lows will be above 40. Looks like prime time for planting tomorrow.

Happy Planting,
Beverly MN

Hi Beverly,

Thanks so much! Great news...
I'm going nutts to start gardening!

Take Care,
Sharron

Also from MSP here.
Bear in mind that if you plant a fully leafed out hosta and temps drop below freezing, the growth will be killed off. But the plant will still be viable.
I bought one yesterday that I'm going to wait a little while to plant.

you would plant them... WHEN ALL CHANCE OF FROST OR FREEZE IS PAST ...

do not listen to the experienced... they take risks... you as a newb dont want to take ... because if theirs get frosted to the ground.. they will shrug and cope with it ... while you might go insane ...

they can be planted ANYTIME during the planting season .. no hurry ...

read the first 60 pages of posts.. and you ought to be all set ..

can we interest you in a few more??? .. we will.. if you hang around in this forum for any length of time ..

ken

Ken, love the second paragraph...so true! Lol

Love the screen name,I climbtrees! Welcome to the forum! Plant to your heart's content after freeze warnings over... care to show us the beauties you have so far? Love pics! :-)

Jo

I'm a second season gardener with a newby question.

There are lots of seasoned & experienced gardeners on this and other forums here at GW. As a newb, you mostly can't go wrong following the cautionary advice of folks with more hosta garden experience.

If you value it, protect it. That might be a good mantra to follow until you've got some experience under your belt.

Gardeners are risk takers every time they shove a spade into the soil but experienced gardeners take a moment to consider other factors before shoving that spade into the soil.

I know what my specific climate here in southern New England can throw at me & my plants. Do you?

At what temp should I plant these potted beauties?

Plants grown in temperature-controlled nursery/hothouse conditions are generally unprepared for outdoor weather conditions/extremes. If you decide to plant them out, keep a close eye on them and take steps to protect them until they're strong enough to fend for themselves.

Once established, hostas are tough as nails. Remember--once the roots have taken hold, it's tough to get rid of them. I've got one or two that have dwindled since I planted them. They're the exception, not the rule.

A few days ago, I dug up a Sagae and a Blue Mammoth for a spot trade. They were still in eyes, and I don't think they even noticed the switch. My back did though.

Hi, IClimbTrees. Welcome to the forum.

Today I received an order from Savorys Nursery in MN, and mostly they were smaller than orders from them in previous years. One nursery in the midwest told me their spring was 3 weeks late, so things were undersized. I feel fortunate that Savory shipped to me for planting now, since we are already heating up.....however, I wore a sweatshirt today because it was 60 degrees and very windy today. For us, that is REALLY UNSEASONALLY COOL. But I'll take all the cool I can get, every day....considering our last frost date is March 15. :) Which gives us about 60 days headstart on other gardens.

Like Ken and Jo and the others say, don't take chances. I'm only in my 3d year growing hosta, and I try not to take many chances. I have a theory that if you don't know something can go wrong, nothing will happen. However, the minute you find out that something CAN GO WRONG, IT WILL HAPPEN. I call this IGNORANCE IS BLISS. You are no longer ignorant now, so TAKE CARE. :)

Interesting, Ken says "do not listen to the experienced..." He's probably the most experienced amongst us. Another thing he has said is pay attention to what zone people are in when taking their advise. Our growing season is short. If we wait for night time temperatures in the 60's it will be July. Check the forecast, The lows predicted next week are all above 50, except tomorrow night/Sunday morning - 40's. I would plant.

Beverly

Welcome to the forum...you are in my favorite place in the whole-wide-world!

I'm near Green Bay, so very similar to you....I've already planted some of my new "store bought" hostas, two weeks ago. Just watch for weather warnings so that you can cover it up, if you want to.

A hosta can handle any temp during the growing season....the issue really is "weather" or not it's going to look good! The weather will throw things at you like freeze advisories, hail storms, etc. All of these, can hurt the leaves and make it look kind of ugly for the season. You can let nature take it's course, or you can go out and protect the hosta from the weather. I save larger pots that trees/shrubs come in and turn them upside down over my hostas if I need to protect them. Pots work better than sheets, but you can use what you have. I've even used cardboard boxes for freeze warnings.

People on this forum are likely to cover up their hostas. Most "normal" people wouldn't be bothered with that.

Hi Everyone!

Thanks everyone!
Went ahead and planted this morning.
I have pots to cover them with if we get another frost.
((fingers crossed))

Yes Ken, as a newby, my frustration tolerance is definitely low.
Hilarious insight!

Jo...glad you like my screen name. I'm 46 and still love to climb trees. Don't plan on stopping any time soon!

Beverly, since you are in my area (Twin Cities)...I have another question.
I lost all of the stained glass Hostas that I planted last Summer.
Are these more sensetive to our extreme cold?
All other type Hostas seem to have made it.

Thanks Everyone,
Sharron

Sharron,
Your loss of Stained Glass probably has more to do with crown rot than it being more sensitive to the cold.
If you planted it too deeply and water sat on the crown, then it's a goner.

Sharron, Melissa is probably right. However,Stained Glass is one of the later to come up hosta. If it is in a cold spot, where the snow melted last, it might still be coming so wait a week or so-just in case. Next weeks warmer weather may awaken it.

Beverly

Here is a link that might be useful: late emerging hosta list

This post was edited by BeverlyMN on Fri, May 16, 14 at 22:22

Thanks Beverly and Melissa! Maybe there is still hope!

I agree, Stained Glass is very light. I have some that are up in my yard, and some that are not...on the north side, there's no sign of them yet. There are other hostas even later that Stained Glass, my "On Stage" is always late for its own show!