It was just a little while ago that some of my fall hosta had leaves looking like this:

Striptease

Queen of the Seas

Lakeside Paisley Print

and the lovely Liberty

They better be. There was 8 inches of snow yesterday!

newhostalady..mine looked like yours..going down but still intact..my weather changed just like yours..now they're covered with frozen snow and will turn to mush soon..my few pots are in the garage or shed..I wonder if before we add leaves or compost to the hosta beds should they dry out a little?..

Am behind as well. Just too soon. Need to bring in leaves and cover hostas piles of pots.

It will be ok just need few more days with no snow cover. Annoying...

Nicholsworth, before I add leaves to the hosta beds, I will wait until the snow is gone. I will leave the beds to dry somewhat, but it depends on the weather. If the snow is gone and then the temperature dips again, I will make sure I get those leaves on the beds! If temperatures are above freezing, I may wait to put the leaves on.

Glad I am not the only one behind on the overwintering of the pots and beds, lindalana! And I agree . . . mother nature can be annoying!

Pretty leaves on your hostas before they shut down for the season. It has been a weird fall. For us it was a hard freeze early on, snow, and now back to normal fall weather, except I still have snow in parts of my yard. :-/

Some of my in ground hostas get smothered in leaves, others have nothing but their own dead leaves. Last year I pulled some of those off so it was bare ground. They all seem to come back fine no matter what.

It sounds like most of your potted hostas were placed so they aren't getting too water logged, just a little snow on some? Do you need to cut off the leaves instead of letting them die down when they're ready?

I don't know if I'm doing it right, either. I let my minis in pots stay outside until the leaves dried up on their own. I had them next to the house so they shouldn't have frozen, but I assume they're dormant. They still had some moisture in the pots, so after the leaves crisped, I put them in the unheated garage where it's cold enough that they should stay dormant until spring. Cross your fingers for my potted minis!

As always, it's a guessing game when and whether any of my plants need a little moisture. I'm over wintering in pots the mini hostas, tiny mini roses, cannas, calla lilies, and some elephant ears that never got very big again this year, but I still have them. Also have some hyacinth bulbs I want to flower in a few months, some planted, some over water jars, boxed to keep them in the dark, underneath the workbench in the garage.

We need some plants to fuss over even when winter gets here!

About 1/3 of mine still had leaves on them, and although it got up to 70 degrees today, I am tired of messing with them, so I hacked off all the leaves, and pretended that a deer came and ate all the leaves off, or that we had a freeze (which doesn't happen here). What the heck it is NOVEMBER and time to go to sleep. So I moved my pots into in dry shade with evening temps in the 40's. They will poke up late next Feb/March.

-Babka

Haha!! We have had sub zero wind chills this week so I am pretty sure everything in my yard is!

djacobz..I'm sure that sub zero wind chills would destroy any bit of life left in your garden Lol..

"Last year I pulled some of those (leaves) off so it was bare ground. They all seem to come back fine no matter what." I like hearing that Sandyslopes! I had heeled some into the ground, but didn't top them up with soil or compost because they didn't seem to be fully dormant. And then the snow came! I don't want my planted in ground pots to get waterlogged!

"Do you need to cut off the leaves instead of letting them die down when they're ready?" I let most of my hostas die down naturally. I do find though that even though the hosta is dormant, sometimes the leaves don't want to pull off. That's why I may cut them off. Also, it has been said that dead leaves may harbor insect eggs or disease. I just like seeing all the leaves gone. I find it looks neater. And there's less of a clean up in the spring when there seems to be a lot to do.

I too, Sandyslopes, don't know if what I am doing is "right!" This year I dug a few of my minis into the ground. I think that would be good for overwintering---as long as there is a layer of leaves or mulch on top (not done yet) . Not sure whether having them planted in ground is good for the growing season because they may be eaten away by bug and slugs! I also have two wide shallow containers with several minis in them. I will put them in the garage. I wasn't terribly successful with overwintering in this container last year. I think the container got too dry. I will cross my fingers that your minis and mine will flourish next year!

That whole watering thing in winter is confusing. We are not to let them dry out, but not allowed to "water" them. Apparently snow or ice cubes can be used to moisten the soil. I think whether pots need watering depends a lot on what zone you are in, where the pots are overwintered and how large the container is.

I keep hoping to find some website or booklet that can answer all the questions I have. I'll keep dreaming about that!

"I am tired of messing with them." I hear you Babka! And I fully understand! I want to have mine tucked away for the winter and forgotten about too.

Newhostalady, trick with containers is most depended on thawing freezing part in my experience.

It is less dependent on anything else. I have experimented with several locations in my yard, north side wall wins. I do have big tubs which I can not move, those do get covered with tarp, I do attempt to keep tarp kinda elevated for air flow, but again on sunny days tarp might come off and stay off. Frozen pot is fine. Frankly I had a pot that ended up being half submerged in the water due to drainage of the yard which I did not notice... have survived. Must be big pot though.

But it also seems different for different folks too. My garage, even that it is a shed with free air flow does not work...

I keep hoping to find some website or booklet that can answer all the questions I have

==>> REALLY???? .. and what are we.. chopped liver?????????????? ... sheesh... lol

die back leaves create there own mound of winter protection ... there is no reason to remove it ...

EXCEPT... if you have a slug problem ... and then removing and drenching in fall will help kill all those bat turds ... so i guess there is a reason ..

healing in mini's for winter.. can be a problem... if you have frost heave ... in late winter ... when they can pop out of the ground during some brief warm spell ... and you dont find them for a few months ... if you do this... mulch heavily.. so the soil stays cold late into spring ... presuming you dont have a rodent issue ...

just start a new post.. for any single issue.. and we can help you .. burying this type of stuff in the bottom of a long post isnt recommended ... i usually dont keep coming back.. after i have puked out my words of wisdom ... [i probly will after that comment ...lol ]

its not like we arent all starving for some new posts ....

ken.

First of all, Ken you cannot go "dormant." Your expertise is required on this forum ALL year round. Period. Got it?

Lindalana, good to hear of your experiences. I think I would like to try having a large pot that I could cover over the winter. A friend told me that she insulates her large pots with foam insulation. She even has her plantings in ceramic pots. She believes the insulation is the key to plant preservation and has been the key to saving her large ceramic pots from cracking. She has done that for many years. I think it is worth a try.

You said storing your pots in the garage doesn't work. Why do you say that?

Ken, yup, I would like a hosta book that would answer all my questions! But if you would like a go at my questions (one at a time), I will start a new post and we'll see what happens!

Location, location, location. With real estate and hostas, especially when it comes to containers. There are people that look at this website that live all over the world, and for sure under very different climate conditions. What works for one, may not work for another. Best to goto a local hosta society for info where there are people growing hostas under the same conditions. This website helps with IDs, and what's new, and planting info other hosta "stuff", but conditions in Canada and Georgia and Munich are VERY different for winter storage.

-Babka

if you would like a go at my questions (one at a time), I will start a new post

==>>> please .. one post.. one topic ... its all about my attention span ... lol ...

i dont care if they are repetitive topics ...

i read all the books.. back in the day ... each had its drawbacks .... brits make great books... but england is so different climate wise ... books from peeps down south.. or pnw.. same.. for us midwesterners ... ground freeze is another big variable.. e.g. winter protection ... etc ....

its just really hard.. for an author to be definitive.. imo ... and why a forum like this is brilliant... as you can hear a vast spectrum of experience... and figure out which applies most to you ...

i was just joking around... dont read anything in it all .....

ken

Ken, totally agree. I love listening to Bob Solberg, he is such nice guy and great presenter but his experience from SC has to be "watered down" to my midwest weather. However few things he mentioned made complete sense to me. As in hosta will grow in gravel in Japan. I had some difficulty with flat pots that had table water level too high, solved that one by adding tons more of pine bark to my flat pots. Another one that overwintering pots shall not be in the sunny area. I have experimented leaving pots in various areas in my garden. North side with no direct sun is the winner. Everything else is iffy.

Newhostalady, I freaked out last winter when temps went down -26F / quite a change comparatively, we were inching into zone 6 last decade/ and brought in my expensive pot of Red Scorpion in Feb. It was fine.

As for garage I know tons of people around me that simply stack up their pots in garage and pull them out in the spring. I do not know why my shed is no go but with exception of one pot that was bone dry all winter my losses for pots in garage are high.

Just for the record, I don't heel in minis. I actually planted many in spin out bags at least a month prior to our estimated frost date. They will be mulched if and when we ever get rid of the snow cover!

Hosta leaves don't need removal for winter. I guess they do provide some winter protection. For me, some of my hostas are stacked by putting a board over top of them and then adding another row. The leaves get in the way of this method. So I was trimming and sterilizing my knives yesterday in order to do this. So depending on winter location, some leaves will remain and others will be removed.

As far as the hosta they are all mush but the Heuchera and the lawns look like summer. I am stowed away in the house crocheting afghans, hats and neck warmers. Glad to say the leaves have all finally fallen off the trees and on my compost pile. No snow and can't say I am not disappointing in that either

f

Sounds good Faye! Mine aren't all tucked away yet, but I think this will be the week that happens. I think one of my neighbor's Norway Maples still has some leaves on it. I am so glad that tree is not in my yard! No snow now. I am not a fan of snow.

My pots are still outside, but grouped together so I can easily gather them and get them into the garage by the wheelbarrow-load. The garage has had other stuff stored there for the last month... but now it’s back to normal and I’ll move the hostas in when I have a little time.

We’ve had variable weather too, and most hostas (and other perennials) were dormant at the normal time, but I went ahead and trimmed everything back when it was convenient. I’ve had enough going on lately that I decided the garden would just have to deal with me and my schedule. Tough love! I’m sure they’ll all be fine.

Agreed, Ken... I’m ready for a time of dormancy too!

My garage (or should I say, my husband's garage) doesn't have much room for overwintering pots. My husband makes some room for me in fall. Garages are just such handy places to keep things in besides cars!

Windymess, good idea to give those hostas some tough love! Sounds like everything is under control at your place. I have a bit of fine tuning left, but it's been a crazy fall. I usually like to put my favorite hostas in the garage for winter storage. But this year was a scramble, and I don't really know which hosta is where (except for the very large pots)!