Pls post your secret to successfully growing hostas in your z9-10 garden, and cultivars if you know

I can only wish you good luck. But I know of people who have grown them.

Just from reading I've learned that the fragrant hostas tend to do a lot better in warm zones like yours and that growing them in pots works better than in the ground. Just the opposite from where I garden!

Is anybody still watching this? Oh, well, here goes. I just today purchased a Patriot and a Dream Queen at HD in 10b. All the local garden centers have them right now so I decided to try some because I want them. As I understand it the problem is overwintering with enough cold to keep them going for another year. So maybe these two will be annuals, but they cost me less than most other plants so I'm giving it a go.

I wish you success with overwintering your new hostas Carol. Patriot is a favourite of mine.
Being from a colder climate I can relate to growing less hardy perennials as annuals, lol. And often perennials can be a lot cheaper than some of the prestige annuals. Good luck!

I have thought about putting the tiny hostas in my porch rail planters. If I can keep them small enough I could buy them their own frig (one of those little office sizes) and keep them there for a couple months in winter. That requires a bunch more thought, tho - maybe I'll try a couple next year.

I planted one last year and it returned. Hosta 'Wide Brim' I've seen others here but don't know which ones they were. We had a relatively warm winter with only one day at freezing. I'm going to try others. My big worry were slugs and snails marking them up. There in a bright shade garden and just re-appeared this month. I'll take a photo soon and post it.

Hosta Stained Glass and Cathedral Windows are touted by PD as being hardy in z9a. I trust their descriptions. I found a Stained Glass locally and planted. It has done well for 3 months or so but our above average rains will be detrimental. I will report here

CarolHB
'So Sweet' I think would be a good one to try in 10b, it take sun better than most hostas. So maybe planted in the shade there it would be OK.
I do grow 'Patriot' and 'Dream Queene' here in zone 8b ,they are slow growers here but do return every year.

Thanks for the tip Larry. We did get a few nighttime temps at about 34 degrees, but the days warm up so much I don't think it really counts. Sunset Western Garden Book rates the planteginea species for zone 24, which this is, but the only ones I found were bulbs and I'm not ready for that until I know what's going to happen next.

UPDATE: stained glass came back bigger and better in 2017. I was shocked, in a good way.
Planning to get Cathedral Windows this year.

My Dream Queen came back:




Its about twice that size now - must take more pics, yes, I will. I might try some others. Guacamole has been suggested. I'm just amazed every time I look at that thing and it seems to grow every day. I may skip the fertilizer when I get to that pot.

the two of you who had suvivors... how cold were your winters?

I'm in central FL, i think a zone9a and we just don't get that cold.
We may get over night lows (which is actually 6-8am) that may hit 32-35f
and this past winter that only happened 3 times, 1 day each.

One of my neighbors, he just came down from OH, and he bought some "Sun Hosta" - which is basically albomarginata. I told him I'd see how his does before I spend any money on them. I'd love to have a few of my beauties down there. (WI for the warmer months)

My last two winters were very mild overall. Hosta still went dormant. I spent $$$ on hostas in the past and none survived. I am in no hurry to waste any more $ so getting one a year after extensive research is all I plan to do.

I'm up in z7, and have hosta literally everywhere: full sun to full shade and everything in between.

Last year, I acquired some Hosta 'First Blush'. Not willing to leave them to chance, I actually left them in pots and brought them inside for the winter. They were tucked in our 'garden window' for some light, but the temps never went below 60. They're doing great! Granted, they didn't grow much, but they survived the winter indoors. They never went dormant either.

The rest of my collection is planted in everything from good old dirt to pots and hanging baskets. For the most part, the do very well. My biggest problem is the deer. They seem to think I've planted all this stuff for their enjoyment. Some of those that I have:
- August Moon
- Blue Mouse Ears
- Bressingham Blue
- Cameo
- Cathedral WIndows
- Dancing Queen
- Dragon Tails
- Dream Queen
- Earth Angel
- Empress Wu
- Fantasy Island
- Fire ISland
- Fire and Ice
- First FrostFrangrant Bouquet
- Forbidden Fruit
- Francee
- Frangrant Dream
- Inniswood
- Krossa Regal
- Lancifolia
- Liberty
- Mediovariegata
- Mini Skirt
- Miracle Lemony
- Orange Marmalade
- Praying Hands
- Rainforest Sunrise
- Razors Edge
- Sagae
- Sea Thunder
- Stained Glass
- Sum and Substance
- Twilight
- Whirlwind
- White Feather

I have enough of the following to share a few.
- Blue Mouse Ears
- Lancifolia ******
- Mediovariegata

I have LOTS of Hosta Lancifolia. It almost grows like a weed for me.

@tcs1366,
Not sure what you mean by Sun Hosta is basically "albomarginata". I grow several Sun Hosta and I grow Hosta 'Undulata Albomarginata' in several different places and they are not basically the same. I also grow 'So Sweet' and it appears to be almost identical to Sun Hosta. Here in zone 8b they hold up pretty well in the sun, but they do better with some shade.
I would not say they thrive in direct sun even here, maybe they would further north.

Hi, my warm winter survivor is a Dream Queen. I think the coldest we got this past winter was around 35*.

As you can see I just left that pot next to the hose thingy because I didn't expect anything and now there's nowhere else to put it, at the moment. Something else will die on me and I'll move things around.

Nery I am nowhere close to zone 9/10 but I have found that growing mine in pots they do much better. I only have 2 gallon size pots as my largest and I 'm going to spring for some 3 gallons. I think the larger the pot the bigger my large hostas will get. All my minis go into pots automatically, too easy to lose them sometimes.
I'm getting more and more interested in hostas and I'm being selective on colors.

I have a large garden and plumerias take most of the potted real estate. I've reached my limit with about 30+ pots. So potted hostas not an option for me now. Good to know about containers so I'm saving that info on my brain file.

I've seen a lot of blue mouse ears at my Lowe's, perhaps that's another good one for warmer areas.
RickM, nice collection
Hi Kabby, nice to see ya. Think of you as my gingers bloom