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Do I plant perrenials in winter or store inside

Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2004
by elisa on December 20, 2004 09:45 PM
Hi! I'm hoping you can help me decide what to do about some plant I just bought from Franks nursery (they're going out of business so they had some great deals). We just had our first snowfall and now I have these perennials and I don't know whether to bring them in the house or leave them in their pots with lots of mulch and leave them outside or in the garage. The plants I bought are viburnum, java red weigler, lynwood goldforsythia,physostegia crown rose, and hemerocallis. I've tried to find this info in books so I really appreciate any advice you can give me . Thanks!
by alankhart on December 20, 2004 11:43 PM
The viburnum, weigelia and forsythia can all be planted now as long as the ground is not frozen since they are shrubs. Be sure to water them well even though it's cold. The other two are perennials and I would wait until early spring to plant them. All of them can be left in their pots outside in a protected place...cover with straw or pine needles to protect them and make sure they don't dry out if the weather gets warm. I have several perennials in pots that I didn't get around to planting this year and they are outside as well. The same thing happened last year. I've yet to lose one left outside in a pot if it's hardy.

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by Bess of the Piedmont on December 21, 2004 08:39 PM
Hi there, Elisa!

My ground is frozen solid here in Virginia, so I'm sure yours is, too. I wouldn't try to put any of them in the ground right now, anyway, as the freeze-and-thaw cycles could heave them up out of the ground, again.

I would probably put them on my porch and keep them watered, even if they lose their leaves, or heel them in somewhere protected against the house with a pile of leaves around the pots until planting time.

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by elisa on December 22, 2004 01:06 AM
Thank you so much! The ground is frozen so I'm definitely going to put some serious mulch on them but I am debating whether to leave them outside or in the garage which gets only a little sunlight. This website is awesome!!
by Bess of the Piedmont on December 22, 2004 09:56 PM
So glad you could join us!

Looking at your plant list, it seems that they are all deciduous plants (lose their greenery in the winter). They don't have any leaves to absorb the sunlight right now, so I don't think that the sunless garage will be a problem for them. But do put saucers under them and water them every so often. Their roots are still alive, down under the soil and might appreciate a drink.

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