POTTING UP BOXED HOSTAS

Boxed Hostas Potted up 

Well I have SPRING FEVER! I could not resist purchasing two boxes of bare root hostas at Sams Club the other day. It is hard to walk away from the boxes bursting with all that spring green color. I have never tried hostas from a box before. So wish me luck. You don't really know what you are getting until you open the bag inside the box. Each box contained 12 to 14 Hostas and both are varieties that I do not have. I got a box of Hosta sieboldiana Elegans, which is a classic hosta with blue seersuckered round leaves. That forms a large clump and gets white flowers early season. This box contained 12 plants with nice sized white roots atached to a still dormant plant. The Other box I purchased was Hosta Swan Lane,a medium sized hosta with pale creamy centers with medium narrow green margins . The 14 plants in this box were already leaved out and were very tender plants with the long roots twisted all together. If the mangeled roots resting in dry peat moss actually become thriving lush green Hostas, I will be happy. Later this Spring, I will use these plants to border the edges of our large Hosta bed. I checked out the garden web forums to decide what to do with the plants. Some people keep the plants dormant and then plant them outdoors when conditions are right. However, it is important that the plants are stored in moist peat moss and that they have not broken dormancy. After opening the boxes and seeing they yellowish green fragile leaves and the dry peat moss, I decided that I better try potting the plants up and try to get them started growing indoors until outdoor planting time. After carefully seperating the tangled plants, I soaked the roots in water. I cleaned up some black plastic pots that I had been storing under the deck. Then I potted them up in miracle grow potting soil and watered them. Now the tough part, Finding a spot in front of a sunny window for 20 some potted Hostas.