From the work I've done with water and hosta I've come to believe that tall pots will help keep the roots cool and pots large enough to help with the root ball temperature are best. No proof that this is so but this is my belief from observations.

I've also had good results with deep pots and a lot of water in the bottom so they stay moist at all times. I did set up a system with containers without holes sitting in the bottom of pots that would hold water constantly. Example; a 18 inch tall pot with a container 5 inches tall that did not drain, the pot itself drains but these containers inside do not. This fits with my work that says hosta like wet feet. I'm posting a photo again of the 5 gal bucket that never drains completely, is also deep and large for the size plant. This plant is almost perfect, not necessarily hard with a common green seedling but there it is nonetheless.

Thanks for the pic. So a non-draining pot might not be a bad thing? A few weeks ago at an estate sale I bought an iron pot. It is the round kind with 3 feet and little round handles on the side. I would love to use it for Elvis Lives or maybe Pineapple Upside Down Cake but was worried since I didn't want to drill a hole in the pot.
For a size reference it probably holds about the same amount of soil as the container in your pic.
Whadda ya think ;)?
Annette

Here are a couple I have in pots.

Torchlight:

Peacock Strut:

lavandagrrl, too funny that you posted a pic of Torchlight. I am now on the hunt for one, and thought it would look great in a pot.
Thanks for posting your pics, and your pots are stunning!
Annette

Hi Annette,
A word or caution. In your area, just like the man featured on GJ, you live in an area that can handle potted hosta very well.

In the north it is much trickier to winter over. Some people on this forum have had success with keeping pots outside and taking them into a unheated garage (like I do). Some tip the pots and keep them partially submurged on the side of a house. Check the Facts Section for superior advise.

After experimenting with inexpensive hostas I have found the right combo to keeping them alive and healthy.

So unless you have done it and are successful with it then surely place a priced hosta in a pot. Annette you are in zone 7 so you maynot have the freeze thaw effect we do up North. I have lost a prized hosta this way and it will never happen again. Mine go into the garage till Mid April and if frost is coming they go back to the garage.

EO...I am not sold on the conception of no drainage holes. Any plant, even hostas, can rot if given too much water that is stagnant in the pot. You can't judge well enough how much water is sitting below the soil line.
Just my opinion.

My pots both have a drainage hole in the bottom.

I just finished potting up 17 hostas in pots Tuesday. I have very uninteresting tara cota colored plastic pots for 7 and the other 10 are in dark green pots with wheels on them so I can move then around! The green pots held Lancifolia for 4 years and I had to size the plant down once before I took them all out and sold them. I have now put more interesting hostas in and hopefully they will thrive like the others did.

Before the wheeled pots I had large green square pots for 5 years so I've been potting up for a while.

We do store in the garage for the winter and I will probably use my storage shed for the extra 7. I got tired of the maple tree slowly killing off the hosta I planted under it so the deeper rooted hostas are now in the pots!

I'll post pictures when I'm completely finished as I haven't carried the wheeled pots up to the deck yet or correctly placed the others.

I'm also trying to delve into the realm of hypertufa. I've bought all the supplies but haven't had time to try it yet. Once I get all the spring planting finished I'm hoping to try it.
Annette

Pics of pots -

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Hypertufa pots - {{gwi:921555}}

More pots {{gwi:921556}}

Another pot area {{gwi:921557}}

and even more {{gwi:1005918}}

Last one but you get the idea {{gwi:979751}}

thumbnails are clickable

Annette,
All of my hostas except for a few pieces of some of the more common ones are in pots. Including the seedlings, daylillies, maples and roses there are probably 600 potted plants in the yard. Some will be split and part put in the ground soon hopefully. Others I will get some more decorative pots for. That way, even if the voles or some weird weather get them I should have backups. Interestingly the voles have figured out how to get into the pots so they have a plentiful supply of food. This year my project is to put wire into the bottom of all the hosta pots to keep them out. They will do well in our area as long as the mix is moisture retentive yet well drained with lots of air pockets for root growth. That said there are even some that seem to enjoy being pot bound to a point. I think that is the reason GE has done so well for me. Other than the vole damage I have had very few over wintering problems. Lost a few to rot before I figured out that potting soil straight from the bag is not the way to go. Good luck and hope you enjoy the pics.
Art

For a size reference it probably holds about the same amount of soil as the container in your pic.
Whadda ya think ;)?
Annette

You do have to have the crown above the water so a pot without any holes is not what I'm recommending. I am saying constantly wet feet.

EO...I am not sold on the conception of no drainage holes. Any plant, even hostas, can rot if given too much water that is stagnant in the pot. You can't judge well enough how much water is sitting below the soil line.
Just my opinion.

Hostared, I used a 4.5 in tall pot to grow my hosta from tissue culture. I had the manufacture make trays with out drainage holes. You have seen a million of these pots and trays with 15 pots per tray at nurseries but they all have holes in the pots and the trays. I put solite which is an expanded shale that becomes porous like volcanic rock in the bottom with Pro-Mix above and sat them in the trays without drainage. I grew thousands this way with little or no problem.

The 5 gal bucket is just a container but IÂve done exactly that with pots that are more attractive.

I know it is a new concept to you but it really works. It is so easy and works so well, once you start you'll wonder why did I did it any other way!

Toymr....#4 on your list, do you have its name. it looks like the one I'm trying to identify.

dahlitsa......The bright gold is actually a seedling of Christmas Tree Gala. It is unnamed and unregistered. It is one of a bunch from last year along with the blue and gold one in the next picture. Try to get a good closeup of the one you are trying to identify and it will be much easier for us to help you identify it.
Art

art,,,,that is a freakin LOT of pots....how do you h2o them all??

jill