What do I do with recently purchased plants?

Sat. 7-14-07 I purchased many perennials, which are now stored in my dark
garage. What should I do with them?

Thanks
confussedlady

You mean 4-14-07?

No advantage to have sun plants in the dark ;)

I would think that you would be able to put them in the ground pretty soon. What I do with ones that are a bit early yet is to keep them in a bright sunny but not freezing location. So if your garge is too dark then maybe have them outside near the house with a little more sun protection to keep them from fluctuating temps too much. And if they're are some cold nights forecasted them bring them in that night.

Thanks' Bigcity, it is so nice to have this board to talk with. Again I just wasn't thinking of the sun loving plants. I am new at this, perhaps next year I will be able to help others.

Only question I would have is when you bought them had they been forced...come from a wamer climate? If so you should wait until all danger of frost is past which should be a couple more weeks...however you could plant them and like bigcityal said just protect them if there is a frost wartning.

I had some I planted today but bought a couple of weeks ago. Of course we got really cold right after, so I kept in the garage at night a brought them out either by window or if not to awful out, sat them outside to kind of harden them off a little.

are they perrenials? plants or bare roots? you can store the perrenial plants near a sunny window or put them outside on the nice sunny days (ha ha howd ya like the snow last week?) and bring them in at night, since its still in the high 30s at night here. if they are bare root put them in the veggie drawer of the fridg. good luck! i am in the same predicimment. i received $200.00 worth of bare root and perrenial plants 2 days ago and its still too cold to plant them. i put the plants in my portable greenhouse, the bare roots in my veggie drawer of the fridg,, kids want to know where all the apples went!

I recenlty got some plants delivered from Burpee. I was surprised to read that the way they grow their perennials, I can go ahead and plant them now without worrying about a frost. It still makes me nervous and I haven't quite gotten up the courage to do it yet, but will probably do it over the weekend when DH is home. Right now, I have them by a sunny window and sometimes when I am not feeling to lazy, I put them outside on the sunny deck. They seem fine, but again, with these plants, it has something to do with the way they were grown. It was a 2 page explanation which was too long to read past the first paragraph without my glasses.

Good luck.

Lylalevi, I was told that all plants had been harden off. Thanks to Nanny,Kathy and Lafko for your help.

confussedlady

lafko06, did you plant them yet? i would be worried. even if they are hardened off perrennials they are suceptable to frost on the leaves. i talked to a guy at the garden center where i was going to buy a twisted filbert. he said anything that has leafed out will need protection if it gets b low 35 at night. i believe him... my lilacs got fried leaves 2 weeks ago.. let me know ...you can always cover them after you plant them if we get cold again. its cooler and very windy today here. were supposed to get rain but i bought a rain barrel so it probably wont rain all summer... bad luck 4 me! kathy

Hi Kathy,

Yes, I actually did plant them over the weekend. HEre is what Burpee's letter says that came with my plants:

"Burpee is one of the few companies that grow perennials by complete vernalization of the variety. Vernalization is a growing term meaning that we allow the plant to go completely dormant over the winter. We do not baby the plants by keeping them in a heated greenhouse. We want the plants to grow on their natural schedule so that you enjoy all the benefits in your from the plants second year of growth. Vernalization also increases the number of flowers on a plant. When a plant goes dormant, then wakes up, there is much greater flower initiation. There is more to it, but I hate typing lol. I'm hoping since I have some of the same perennials growing in my yard in different locations, and they can sustain the weather, that these vernalized ones will feel at home, but that remains to be seen. I wouldn't try this with local plants at this time without hardening off and/or waiting for the soil to warm up, but hopefully they will be okay. In the meantime, I'll just baby them and cover them up if I hear the weather getting colder. Thank you for your post!!

That's great that they do that, but it still won't protect tender new growth from unusually late freezing weather like what happened to you guys a week or two ago, plants that go dormant over the winter wake up when they think it's spring and if they turn out to be wrong then they can get zapped by the cold, doesn't matter if they've been grown outdoors all along or not. You also need to find out where Burpee's growing grounds are, if they're in a warmer zone than you, then the plants may have started to wake up a little earlier than they would have if they were in your garden all along, and that would also make them susceptible.

hmmmm.... all awesome points you guys. I will keep an eye on them and I will update you on how they are next month. They are looking as good as the established ones in the yard now, but of course I plan to still baby them, so I'll let you know how it goes here.

Burpee's growing locations are Selbyville Delaware and Fannettsburg PA. Zone 6 and 5 respectively.

i'm z5 :)

jeeze maybe i should have bought mine from burpee. i got all mine from jungs, the lillies look kinda sickly. i planted them last weekend. they are pretty pale and small. i will give them a couple of weeks to see if they improve then if not i will complain.. the blue light clemitis i got from them was all broken. i called and they replaced it immediately. the new one is much better looking.. they were really nice on the phone. i still have both clematis in the greenhouse because i havent decided where to put them yet.. order first, find a spot later.., story of my life.. i guess i get a little nutty when i see those catalogues! kathy

If you receive dormant plants it would be perfectly fine to leave them out doors. They have established root systems from the previous season's growth. They should have set their crown buds last fall, been vernalized, and are ready for this year whenever conditions permit growth. I actually vernalize my plants outdoors all winter through snow and winter warm spells and the majority do fine. They were snowed on a few weeks ago without problem. As long as their roots are fine the plant for the most part will be fine. It is always a good idea to find out if a company will send you dormant plants or growing ones so you know what to expect and how to treat them. Hardier species started this year should even be fine to leave outdoors. As long as they have a good root system (hopefully wherever you got them they are nice established plants) What species do you have? If it is a plant that can send shoots up from the crown it might be alright even if the growth received some frost and it could send up new shoots. The most important thing is to not overwater. If they sit wet and cold they can get root rot. I keep water pretty lean outside of rain water until I'm ready to plant. I end up with some pretty tough plants!! ( I do get them all free so I can experiment cheaply) If you are buying plants in person, my best advice would be to buy established plants that have been hardened off either by the retailer or hopefully their wholesale supplier should harden them off or should have properly vernalized them. Your dormant plants should be fine in a garage as long as you don't heavily water them. Give them only enough to keep the bottom half of the pot wet. If they freeze with too much water in the pot that will kill them or if too dry it will burn them like freezer burn. If you see growth though get them outside into the light. JMHO others may see it differently. I have about 400 3 and 4 inch pots that survived the winter outside with zero protection and i know many smaller nurseries leave their plants in a cold house for the winter. The only plants that did not survive were ones that I questioned their health before winter. Well I'm getting way off an on a tangent now...hope I have been of some help. I'm in a bit colder climate so I have pretty tough species and they are all natives. I have worked around the horticultural industry my whole life and just going by what I have seen various places do.

hey trillium, i stop at the dane deforest mcdonalds on my way to visit my bro. & sisters. they all live in dells, briggsville, adams, easton. my sister gave me a couple of trilliums, awesome flowers! i bought 3 bare root red ones from jungs. have you ever been to the jungs in randolph. wisc?. there is also a little farm that sells plants outside of baraboo on 12 ever been there? my sisters & i go there alot. we might go visit jungs in randolph within the next couple of weeks. wondering if its worth the trip... kathy

trillium612,

I found your "tangent" to be very informative---that's what is so nice about DG, people such as yourself sharing your knowledge and expertice (sp?). Thank you...OK, now that I'm your "new best friend" (LOL!!!) how do I get some of those nice, tough, FREE cold-hardy plants???

Happy Gardening,
Jan