Hosta bulbs

Question

My aunt separated her hostas and gave me several bulbs with roots and foilage. I live in Missouri and it is too late to plant them. I know I need to get the current roots off and lightly brush the soil away. Do I have to plant the bulbs in containers or can they be stored until spring without planting? If so, how do I care for them? Thank you so much.

Answer 1

Your best bet is to plant the hosta tomorrow. Seriously, I don’t believe it is too late since the roots will keep working to get established even after the leaves have yellowed. It isn’t necessary to wash off the dirt; it fact it is better to leave the roots alone and moisten them now. However, your story doesn’t add up. Hosta do not form bulbs so I wonder what you really have. Planning to brush off soil and remove present roots sounds like bulb care when getting ready to store them. But hosta is not a bulb, corm or tuber and has a fibrous root system. If you post a picture of what you have, we may be able to identify it. It certainly is not too late to plant spring-blooming bulbs. In fact, it is better to wait until cold temps are here to stay and the soil has cooled – Nov/Dec. But if they just came out of the ground, as opposed to being stored, I would plant the bulbs now. Remove the foliage after planting if leaves are yellow. Water then mulch.