For those in climates of zone 9-10, picking the right hosta can be a daunting task. Many of the hostas that grow well in cooler climates will not fare as well in the deep south. The key is hostas must have a minimum dormancy requirement of 30 days at temperatures below 43 degrees F. Some hostas perform better than others, due mostly to their reduced winter dormancy requirements. While all hostas will emerge the following spring after a "non winter", they are usually quite weak and proceed to deteriorate during the subsequent season.

The easiest way to determine the dormancy requirements is to observe which hostas emerge the earliest in spring. There is generally at 75 day difference in emergence dates of hostas in spring. Below is a list of those that emerge extremely early and would make good candidates for trialing in warm climates where there is little or no winter chilling.

The dormancy requirements of each hosta relate to which species was used in the breeding of a particular cultivar. Species names are also included in the list, and those names start with small letter. Beside the cultivar names are the species (where known) from which they are derived that account for their low chill requirement.

Green Foliage

Baby Bunting (venusta)
clausa
Fall Bouquet (longipes)
Fourth of July (kikutii)
Hirao Splendor (kikutii)
Honeybells (plantaginea)
Invincible (plantaginea)
Jade Cascade (montana)
laevigata
Otome No Ka
pachyscapa
Purple Lady Fingers (clausa)
pycnophylla
Potomac Pride (yingeri, poss. plantaginea)
Raspberry Sorbet
Rippled Honey (plantaginea)
Sweet Bo Peep (plantaginea)
takahashii Gosan
Tortifrons (longipes)
venusta
Waving Wuffles (ventricosa)
yingeri

Variegated Foliage

Anne Arett (sieboldii)
Crested Surf (sieboldii)
Diamond Tiara (nakaiana)
Emily Dickinson (plantaginea)
Fan Dance (sieboldii)
Gala (longipes)
Golden Tiara (nakaiana)
Grand Tiara (nakaiana)
Iron Gate Delight (plantaginea)
kikutii Kifukurin
kifukurin Ko Mame
montana Aureomarginata (montana)
Peedee Gold Flash (sieboldii)
Savannah (plantaginea, sieboldii)
Scooter (sieboldii)
Sea Thunder (sieboldii)
Showboat
So Sweet (plantaginea)
Stiletto (sieboldii)
Sugar and Cream (plantaginea, sieboldii)
Summer Fragrance (plantaginea, sieboldii)
Sweetie (plantaginea)
Verna Jean (sieboldii)
Warwick Edge
Waving Winds (sieboldii)

Gold Foliage

Birchwood Parky's Gold (nakaiana)
Chartreuse Wiggles (sieboldii)
Gold Scepter (nakaiana)
longipes Golden Dwarf
Sweet Tater Pie (yingeri, nakaiana)

Blue Foliage

Blue Belle (longipes)
Blue Blush (longipes)
Silver Bowl