still a foot of snow here ... ken

Same here, at least a foot of snow here, but temperatures will stay in the 30s to 40s now per forecast. I will see pips here end of April.

Snow is going fast, but I've got Crocuses ! No HOSTAS for awhile I hope!

I have several that are starting to make an appearance. So far Fried Bananas is far and away in the lead with 4 pips showing, the longest one at a couple of inches. Guacamole, Wishing Well and Fragrant Queen are showing pips about like the one in your picture or smaller. Several others have the tips just starting to pop out of the dirt.

Following a record breaking Feb. (for mild temperatures), March has also started sunny here in B.C. However, it has turned colder overnight, hovering around freezing on a few occasions - not good for the hostas that have been quick out of the blocks. Hence, I have seen cold damage on Montana A.M. (only to be expected I suppose seeing as though it is already beginning to unfurl). There's less damage on Geisha, though it too is in the process of leafing out. I have brought these two indoors overnight to avoid the worst of the cold, but then they go outdoors for the rest of the day. Not an ideal situation to be in, but the warmer weather has been such a tonic overall. Most of my hostas are now pipping - it's more a case of which ones aren't. They are still under shelter, and most are covered overnight.

Geisha

Montana A.M.

BC

Still have a foot or more of snow to look at. My gardens are utterly covered by it. I AM SICK OF SNOW, ICE, FREEZING WATER UP TO MY ANKLES!!

I hope my covered pots are OK. Should I add a handful of snow to them? It's also time to find the time to go into my storage unit in the basement and soak my dry-stored geraniums one more time before April.

Good looking hosta there, BC. I have a few coming out with some green, but not so far along. Amazing, isn't it, that here in zone 9a near Mobile Bay my hostas have only pips showing....except for HOOSIER HARMONY which has a short leaf peeking out from the leaf cover.
I did not tip pots this year, nor did I move them, I figure it is time to see what happens. Any hostas which don't survive will give their spaces to those which thrive. I'll have some which MUST go into larger pots! I'm not the best hosta grower, but this is my 4th season of passionately loving these plants. With the help of this forum I've learned a bit, and hope to see results with many leaping to maturity in a matter of weeks.
Of course, fragrant hosta are my abiding passion, but I also have many golds and greens solid and with margins, that I simply could not live without.

....and here is the garden this year, still dormant.

A winter garden is a lonely place, but soon to be popping with fresh life again.

I finally got the pipping hosta out of the garage today. It' still raining, but not freezing any longer. Those that were not showing pips stayed out in the nasty wet, freezing weather. I moved those under the covered porch a few days ago. I thought they had been wet long enough for this time of year.

Those that had been in the dark garage for two weeks look kind of pitiful. I put them under the covered porch, too. I put boards across the tops of the ones not pipping and put the others on top. This year has certainly been a challenge so far. I still have to repot about 50 of them. Oh well... I'm sure it will get done.....if it ever stops raining. (We really need the rain, though)

bk

Wolverine

So Sweet 2

Sugar and Cream (which I hope is back to it's beautiful self this year)

Keep them coming folks! We're having single digits...on the plus side for next few days. Guess I better shovel the snow off the wee deck and pile it on the hostas underneath the deck...it will be awhile yet...sigh...

50 to repot? What will you do AFTER lunch? How old are most of those?

If it rains nonstop for 3 weeks I may get tired of it but we sure do need every drop.

The last and maybe only time I have ever seen single digits was around 1987ish when I was living in Dallas. It got down to 4. But seeing triple digits? I can't count that high.

Let me check.....nope, no pips here yet.

See any pips out there Shasta?

Lovely shot hostanista.

Great photography....and...great subject matter!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the photos, Mocc! The shade partition is simply beautiful and I just want to be there!

Wow! BK, none of mine are like that Wolverine! Nor like any of yours. Don't tell me I have been colder here than you, so much further north than Mobile? Mercy! I have a piece of one tiny leaf showing on Hoosier Harmony, which is the eager beaver in my garden. I did not tip pots this year, nor move them to any kind of shelter. The sun being so low in the sky, even with no leaves on the trees, there was good shade. We did get some rainy weather, but only once or twice was it heavy. I'm hoping the potting mix drained quickly, but we shall soon see.

Good photos in this thread.

Hostanista - compliments to the photographer!

We've been warmer than bk and I have nothing even remotely close to those first two pictures. Impressive.

What happened to Sugar and Cream last year?

Mocc, we were really warm in January and February, so the early risers started coming up. Then, about two weeks ago, we started getting freezing, wet weather with overnight lows in the mid 20's. Sunday was the first time it was safe to take the pipping hosta out of the garage.

Santa, the Sugar and Cream, like most of my hosta, suffered two problems last year. We had a dry winter and I was afraid to water (never did before). So I lost many, and roots shrunk on others. Then, we had a morning in the mid teens after the fragrants were up. I was lazy and just put them in the unheated garden shed. Between the two problems, many of my hosta were smaller than the previous year. I almost lost Dark Star, which was just hitting a mature status. It and others went back to juvenile status. Sugar and Cream was in between, it didn't go back to juvenile leaves, but was smaller and scraggly looking.

A lot of my hosta just need a pot change. All the pots I could get (other than black) had built in bottoms. Drilling holes in them did not solve the problem and, without the bottoms, they look ugly. Some need bigger pots and a few need a total change in soil. The weather has been a good excuse to put it off.

bk

I will be very interested to hear how the ones that came out small last year do this year.

BKay, reading your account of weather events is like a perfect storm formula. I shudder to think how close I might have come, especially last year, a few degrees here or there. I'll take your experience into account.....first time I really understood what happened because you said it so well.

In front of my office, under a roof, is a pot with a So Sweet in it. I watered it once and threw some ice cubes on it once during a cold snap. It's got six pips today.

And the daffodils and crocuses are blooming and no freeze is predicted for the rest of the month. I think this is Spring!

Kathy

Bkay, I can sympathize with you since Jan. and Feb. have also seen milder temperatures here than those we saw at the start of March. The daytime temps have still been very pleasant, but at night it has dipped around freezing which poses problems for those leafing out.

In addition, I'm having to uncover many of my pots since I don't want to keep them in the dark when they are beginning to grow. Only a few aren't showing pips - the usual suspects (Striptease, On Stage, Fire and Ice, Paradigm included). I thought Mocc and some other southern growers might be in the same boat, but fortunately for them, this doesn't appear to be the case.

BC

This week seems to be our first warmed up spell. Last night we had mostly 60 degrees and it rained all night. It was predicted to rain next five days. However, today was a balmy spring day. The tender plants in pots which I moved out of the Teahouse on Sunday had a refreshing wakeup call. My Meyer lemon tree in a pot is loaded with buds, some open flowers, tiny tight green fruits swelling all over, and it is so beautiful. I have it on the back deck near the kitchen door. It is again overcast, and DH says the rain is scheduled to commence about this time. He has a lot more faith in the weatherman's powers of prediction than I do. :)
Oh yes. The three newly arrived h. plantaginea all have pips now. A couple of days of this weather, with some gentle rain, hostas will be pipping all over the garden. We still must endure the usual cold snap that comes near Easter.

Yes, it's always cold at Easter. The question is usually, "how cold?".

bk

These are my early guys. Clockwise...Lederhosen, Invincible, Remember Me and Spartan Arrow. I'm in Silicon Valley just south of San Francisco. El Nino has kept us warm this year.

-Babka

Never saw the front two before. Spartan Arrow is a beauty. Did your Snake Eyes make it? It was your plant that I so admire. I'm pleased to note that my Lederhosen and Invincible look similar to yours, so mine must be the real mccoy....always good to know such things. None of mine are more than pips...so far anyway.

Babka,

That's a nice sized Remember Me - one of my favourites. Invincible is another. I have a couple - both are up and growing, though not as developed as yours. Enjoy your first arrivals.

BC

Not all my pots have broken dormancy yet. Some are just showing elongated pips, and some are still just hard green points, but getting more green each day.

Mocc- Snake eyes was late last year too. I'll be watching, as it isn't one of the more vigorous ones.

BC- Remember Me is a favorite of mine. Here she is last year.

-Babka

Babka,

Thanks for the additional pic. This hosta is certainly an eyecatcher! I like it through the whole season. Whilst I used to prefer the more bleached centers of late summer, I now think the butter yellow of spring is even more attractive. Either way, you've got a fabulous looking plant there.

BC

With the cold weather the last couple of weeks, you're ahead of me. I don't have anything with a full leaf yet.
bk

Nope! We've had a warm up and snow is melting but it's too early by at least a month, if not more. I did have a dream the other day the snow melted and revealed lots of hostas emerging and even opening up! I was yelling out the window about my hostas already appearing and being worried it was too early. Ha, I think that was a sign that I am so over winter! :)

I have one or two more that are just starting to show pips but Guacamole is on a rampage. It is showing a couple of new pips popping out a day, up to 12 or 13 now. Still only about 1/4 of my 23 pots showing growth so far, but the temps are finally back to around 70 with some sun after a cool down period, so I expect to see some action in the coming couple of weeks.

I noticed the gutter overflow tray had blown across our front walkway so I went outside to put it back. All along the walkway, against the brick wall that is the garage the snow has melted.

Look what I found when I "poked around".... Plantaginea pips!!! Amazing!

Just less than two feet or so to the right and there is still 1-1 1/2 feet of snow covering the front yard.

Guacamole

Fried Bananas (and foot)

Fragrant Queen

Abiqua Ambrosia 3/22/15

Stained Glass 3/22/15

Please click on pics to enlarge. My fave markers - the heavy white plastic knives pictured above, which I store in a drawer during the warm weather. I use them to mark plants that die back & like how easily they slide deep in the soil, leaving only a little knob above ground if desired. #2 pencil works well & rubs off. Freebies from a local coffee place, re-use, recycle. I admire organized posters w/ permanent tags but my operation is very, very small & these freebies work great.

Some bare ground...but no pips here yet. I think May 1st I will wake up and see an explosion of growth here.