July 2015 issue of the Cornell Flower Bulb Research Program Research Newsletter:
Presently many nursery growers are interested in relative performance of bare roots versus domestic (North American) grown plugs or liners. Some people swear by liners, others by bare roots. In 2014, we decided to investigate growth of Dutch bare roots versus domestic liners for a number of Hosta cultivars. The growth differences were very significant between the liners and bare roots. It was clear that bare roots provided a superior product, faster, than with liners.