Re: Hosta 'Cherry Berry' Hardiness?
- Subject: Re: Hosta 'Cherry Berry' Hardiness?
- From: h*@open.org
- Date: Tue, 8 May 2001 00:05:31 -0700 (PDT)
Rich:
>Considering where the plant was hybridized (zone 4) would that be a
>determining factor as to its hardiness?
As a general rule you would think that a hosta that was hybridized in
a zone 4 garden would be winter hardy, but that will depend on a few
factors. A zone 4 garden with a LOT of consistent snow cover will not
be the same as a zone 4 garden with no snow. Also, some hybridizers
tend to pamper there "better" seedlings in the hope of not losing
them. Also, a hosta hybridized in a zone 4 garden where the ground is
well frozen all winter may not be "winter hardy" in a milder zone
because in the milder garden the ground won't be frozen at all or it
will alternate between frozen and not frozen. Once the ground freezes
over in a cold zone garden the ground basically becomes "dry" because
all the water is tied up as ice and there isn't any microbial activity
to attack the roots and crowns, which will occure in a milder garden.
Most of the hosta hybridizing is centered in more northern gardens, or
at least gardens that get a fairly decent winter - even a zone 8
garden can get a decent amount of winter weather. I think a lot of
the problems some people are having with overwintering some hostas
doesn't really have anything to do with temperature as much as with
disease.
Joe Halinar
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