Hostas in Containers

In Wisconsin there are few plants that you can winter over in containers without bringing them inside.  This is not because of the cold weather, but because freezing and thawing is very common.  Since weather is Wisconsin is very unpredictable, we could have rain, snow, sleet, etc at any time in the winter months.  As snow melts or it warms enough to rain the soil collects the moisture.  Then as Wisconsin weather often does, it freezes causing the soil and the roots to freeze.  Since the bottom of the containers often stay frozen, not allowing the moisture to drain, more ice will collect in the containers killing the plants.

There is a solution for keeping hostas in containers all season long.  I wait until after the leaves have been killed by a hard frost.  Then I move my hostas to the north (or shadiest side) of my house.  I tip the pots on their sides to keep moisture from collecting in them.  I then cover them with leaves, and leave them alone until my hostas in the ground start showing signs of coming up.  This past winter I also buried pots halfway into the ground and covered them with leaves, and these hostas also came back fine in spring.

In the summer months remember to keep your hostas in container well watered.  Most plants require one inch of water, but hostas are water loving plants so they will do better with more than one inch of water per week.  Some hostas actually prefer to be root bound in pots, such as the hosta 'Tattoo'.