adding new questions at the bottom of another persons note.. may not get you the best answers ... some peeps .. like me.. don't come back to a given post forever ... upon arrival of bare root stock ... i open the bottom of the plastic sleeve ... and put them into a pail of cool water for no more than a day ... and hopefully just for an hour or two ....... they are not water plants ... they probably wont care if they are left in a pail for a few days ... but why risk it ... rot starts in too much water ... if i am expecting more than i know i can handle on arrival day ... i either have a small area to 'heal' them in ....spacing is not an issue ... just put them into the protection of mother earth ... for a day or two ... until you have time to properly site them .... or i have pots and soil ready for immediate potting ... again .. a sloppy job can be redone.. a rotted plant can not be saved ... only one caveat ... if you are expecting arrival before last known frost date ... pot them .. and put them in a wagon .. so they can be brought into the garage at night .. and back out during the day .... some of the providers grow them in greenhouses.. and they come fully leafed out.. and they are tender ... and if they came from south of you.. and from a greenhouse.. they may not appreciate a MN night e.g. .... in cool spring... they will not need a lot of water.. after the first planting ... cold and wet is not conducive to a healthy plant ... ken

Moccasinlanding: I have planted the two hostas in pots and will be leaving them in the house to grow. That should speed things up. Daily temperatures here are just above freezing and night times are just below freezing. It will be my first time "forcing" a hosta indoors. I actually have one hosta outside that has awakened. I noticed it just yesterday with one eye. Today a second eye is making its way out. The hosta is Wolverine. I have looked at the hosta library and there are beautiful specimens to view. Unfortunately no very young GM. But like you say, this forum has loads of pictures and I will do some searching so that I can make a comparison. I agree that we need to put our trust in the sellers. I had "heard" of the growers from which my bare root hostas came from, so I feel optimistic that I will have the correct hosta. (Nothing like last year when I bought a bag of hostas and none of them were what they were supposed to be!) Thanks moccasinlanding for your feedback! Thanks Paul (paul in mn) for the photo! Your Golden Meadows looks so lovely and fresh! I hope my one eye will look like that---then I will (almost) know for sure. Ken: "back in the day.. white oak had an old fridge.. or they called their sale .. a fridge sale ..." That's so cute---a fridge sale---never heard of anything like that. That 's very interesting about the plants coming from division or TC plugs. I think you are right about my bare root hostas probably being from TC plugs as I did not notice any cut area. "so its hard to define a bargain" That's so true, especially when it comes to plants. I thought I was getting a good deal---two bare root hostas that cost me less than one potted hosta from a hosta nursery. But if this hosta takes off slowly, then I think I may not have gotten a good deal after all. Time will tell. As for rambling on---you can ramble on with me any time you want! Thank you Phil (hostafreak) for your comments. I am glad you think the roots are good. Sieboldiana heritage---doesn't that mean slow grower? Oh dear.

Oh well. I treated two hosta last year with the "bleach soak" 20% not 10%. Prettiest white root ball you ever saw. Tossed the potting medium too. Tossed the cheap pot. Both lived. We'll see what happens this year, they are already up and growing, but have been isolated until I see if the streaking returns. Those were of course part of my container collection of hosta. I would venture to say that there are nematodes in my garden, if other species of plants have nematodes, because I've purchased from many sources far and wide, local and nationally. If nems can be "shed" from watering a plant and gain access to the soil and travel to other pots, they'll all have it sooner or later. Hopefully not, but I'm a bit of a pessimist about growing a perfect garden. I always figure, "If it can go wrong, it will," and I plan accordingly. Sure hope all those chemicals I have in my beloved Teahouse are not combustible. :) Steve, I see you explored the nurseries of the area and discovered a lot more than one had the nem problem. Good for your inquiring mind.

You probably could keep them that long, but you risk mold and rot or drying out, depending... If possible, I'd pot them temporarily in a loose, well-draining soil. No need to pot them like they will stay in the pots for a long time... you can even put several together into each pot. An alternative is "heeling in" in the garden... an old term for digging a shallow trench and laying the roots in and covering lightly, just to store them temporarily. I like the pot idea better as they will be ready to transport when you go to your daughter's.