Will Hostas Grow Where You Live?
With
the exception of Hawaii, hostas can be grown in every state. But, they
cannot be grown everywhere in every state. I can't give you a definite
yes or no for any particular spot in the country, but in general, the hotter
and dryer it is in your area, the harder it is to grow hostas. Hostas
are not suited for tropical areas.
If
you read the information below and still can't decide if your area is
suitable, the best way to find out is to try a few and see what happens.
The other thing you can do is to find a professional gardener in your area
and ask. The people at your parks department, public gardens,
arboretums, and better quality garden centers probably can tell you your
chances. If nobody else grows them in your area you should probably
find out why before you buy too many
I get
emails all the time asking if hostas will grow in a particular city
somewhere in Florida or Arizona, and it shocks people to know that I have
never gardened in Florida or Arizona and simply do not know. Read the
guidelines below and decide whether it's worth a try.
Growing Hostas in
the South
I can't grow palm trees here in
Virginia, not for very long anyway. So I'm not sure why it comes as a
shock to some Southern gardeners that they can't grow hostas as a perennial
in Miami Beach. If you live in Miami Beach and you want to have a
hosta garden, you'll probably have to move north.
The controlling factor, though
certainly not the only one, is winter temperatures. Hostas must have a
period of dormancy each winter, lasting at least a month, to survive for
long. That dormancy is induced by a number of factors, but we
generally rate the chance of success by winter temperatures. Because
of the other factors involved, especially the availability of water, I can't
tell you exactly where you can or can't grow hostas. I can say, with
some certainty, that the further south you go, the harder it gets and at
some point it's just not worth the effort.
As a rough guide, in Florida if
you live south of the line between Jacksonville and Pensacola, growing
hostas will be a challenge. If you live south of St. Augustine-Tampa,
it probably ranges from difficult to impossible. I've done many things that
garden writers told me I couldn't do, so I'm not going to be specific about
where you can or can't grow hostas, but with all the beautiful plants you
can grow in the tropical and sub-tropical areas of the country, I'm not sure
it makes sense to try to garden with plants not suited to your area.
If you do decide to experiment, we would be interested in hearing if you are
successful.
I am not as familiar with the
geography of Texas and the deep Southwest, so you will have to judge your
chances from the information above. We have customers in these areas who
live at high altitudes who have had success, but I suspect that the closer
you get to Mexico, the less chance you have.
In any of these areas, you will
have to provide hostas with lots of water in the summer and protect them
from the sun. Once the plants start active growth at the beginning of
the year, you should never let them dry out until they go dormant again in
the winter. They should have lots of water available in the hottest
part of the summer.
And some varieties will be
easier than others. Hosta plantaginea, the August Lily, is the
easiest hosta to grow in the South. It grows naturally in coastal
China, and it's range extends farther south than any other hosta species.
Plantaginea is a terrific hosta. It is the only hosta species
with fragrant flowers, and it has the largest flowers of any hosta. Any hosta with fragrant flowers
has plantaginea in it's background, and would be a good candidate to try in
the South. The list of plants recommended for sunny
areas are probably the best to try in the South.
Click
here
As a general rule, I would avoid
blue hostas, they just don't handle the heat well.
Hosta guru George Schmid, who
lives in Georgia and provided me with guidance for writing this page, tells
me that in Italy gardeners grow plantaginea in containers on
pedestals. Even though this area is not cold enough to grow hostas in
the ground, air temperatures at night are cold enough to chill the plant in
containers. If you want to experiment with containers, be sure to give
them lots of water in the summer and fall.
George also mentions that H. ventricosa does well in the South, so it and it's many hybrid offspring
might be worth trying.
Outside the Deep South and Southwest
This one is fairly easy.
There is no place in the contiguous 48 States, except the Deep South and
Southwest, where hostas can't be grown. Even in International Falls,
Minnesota, that place we all hear about during the weather report and ask
ourselves, "How can people live up there?", even there, you can grow hostas.
Hostas are hardy to zone 3, so
unless you live in the Arctic, it's probably not too cold to grow them.
But even though hostas can tolerate extreme cold in the winter, once they
break dormancy in the spring, just one hard freeze can be disastrous.
Once the bud swells and the leaves begin to unfurl, freezing temperatures
can seriously damage the crown, and can lead to crown rot which can kill the
plant. Once a hosta has broken dormancy and the leaves have begun to
open, they must be protected from freezing. I have heard that they can
handle temps down to 28 degrees, but I have never tested them.
Late freezes can be a problem
with any variety, but there are some hostas that break dormancy earlier than
others, making them more susceptible to freeze damage even in normal years.
Plantaginea and its derivatives are especially troublesome, as are
Hosta montana and its hybrids. Plantaginea also needs a
longer growing season than most hostas, so the summers in the North may not
be long enough for it to produce flowers.
To compensate our Northern
friends for these problems, the blue hostas grow to sizes and with a depth
of color that those of us further south can only dream of.
Alaska and Hawaii
Alaska is the hardest one for
me. I'm sure there are areas where hostas can be grown, but the
weather there can obviously be extreme and I am not familiar with the area
and do not know the limits of hostas' cold tolerance.
Hawaii is easy.
Hostas won't grow there, not for long anyway.
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