When is it too late to plant perennials? Apparently my DH was digging through snow last November to plant things but I don't think they came back. I firmly believe that fall or late summer is a good time to plant - they don't waste energy flowering and put it all into root growth. But how late is too late???
when is it too late to plant perennials?
I stop planting perennials the end of october gets too cold to be out watering if theres no rain.
If you are truly zone 6a, I would agree.
When I put my zipcode into the zone-finder thingies, that's what they tell me. What zone would you think? Is 6a or 6b colder? I don't know where Guilford is, but I would think it's pretty much like Massachusetts. It only seems to change if you're actually near the ocean, like you have a beach within walking distance. Or of course, if you're in the Berkshires, and altitude enters into it. Both of those places are a few hours from where we live.
xxxx, Carrie
Carrie, I don't know where Milton is but I think MA is zone 5a or 5b except the Cape and the coast. I'm in 6a on the shore of CT.
Milton is just S of Boston, within the 128 belt. The Globe considers us South Shore but there's no shore nearby that I know of. I think all of the old 617 area code is some kind of 6, and 5 is Western MA and the Berkshires.
This weekend is pretty much the end of the line for planting new perennials you want to see establish themselves and come back next year. Look at your local long range weather (the 10 day forecast). If your days aren't going to hit 65 or higher consistently, I wouldn't bother unless you get something at a blowout price you want to experiment with.
Just asked the wonderful owner of Natueworks nursery this question we have been kicking around. She said she tries to get things planted by the second week of Nov. but that in her landscaping business , she has succesfully gone later than that. She said the soil is still warm and that around here it doesn't freeze until after Christmas. Air temperature & frost will kill annuals and the vegetation of perennials, but there is still time for roots to grow in the warm earth.
So Carrie feel free to go for it.
Yipee, an expert agrees with me, so I'll pay attention to that and ignore what everyone else has said! I'm happy, until after Thanksgiving! Thank you, Dave, thank you.
xxxx, Carrie
Carrie,
Yes I too am suggesting you side on the side of caution with perennials. One of the biggest problems you will have planting this late on the south shore is your plant won't have enough time to establish a strong enough root system to not be effected by the freeze-thaw cycles that will happen in Milton from mid Dec on. The physical movement of freezing and thawing will push the perennials crown up high above the surface and during the worst of winter the crown will freeze. This doesn't happen with lawn grass or larger trees and shrubs so perhaps that is where the confusion lies. If you choose to plant now you may want to keep an eye on it and when you see the crown rising pile the mulch high. kt
Post freeze mulching would be a good way to deal with that. Carrie, why would you want to plant after Thanksgiving?
And how about bulbs? I had an order in for bulbs which has not arrived yet in the mail. Our night temperatures are dipping into the mid 30's although we have not had a freeze yet. Is it too late to plant daffodils and allium or should I just call the supplier and cancel the order?
Well, don't ask me because I'm the one who plants everything in the winter!!! LOL! Dave, hmmm, good question. Because I buy things in September/October once the things I've been wanting go on sale, and then they ALL get here at once in October and there are only so many daylight hours at this time of year? Because I'm counting on DH to get things in the ground and he hasn't even finished everything from trades this summer?
xxxxxx, Carrie
Don--
Last year I planted a ton of daffodils in December only a week before Christmas and they were the crappy Wally World Daffs that were being blown out of the store for next to nothing. Every one of them came up so I wouldn't worry about those too much. You can definitely plant out most bulbs through November.
--John
I am following this thread with so much interest, especially since I am completely new to winter-gardening and have so much to learn. My question is: how long should I keep watering some of the new perennials that I have put in: japanese painted ferns. Solomon's Seal, Japanese anemone, hosta, oak-leaf hydrangeas, ornamental grasses, and many bulbs. Also, some pansies!
I have heard that I should keep watering until the ground has frozen (whenever that is in zone 7a: how do you know?) I can just see me out there in the cold with a watering can, since we have turned off and blown out our sprinkler system.
And btw, if we have some frost-proof faucets, is it dangerous to leave our hoses out in the frost?
Thanks in advance,
Emily
Emily,
As the local expert on doing things too little too late, I try to water in new perennials well when they're planted. The best thing about bulbs is that if you stick some bulb food in with them when you plant them, they'll usually divide and multiply. This time of year, I do try to make sure DH mulches well on new plantings and bulbs.
xxxxx, Carrie
Emily,
If you leave the hoses out during heavy frosts, you run the risk of water freezing in the hose and causing the hose to break or become brittle.
Once a perennial is watered in and established in my garden, I never water it unless we have a long period of drought. When I would, the root systems wouldn't establish themselves well and I'd end up with shallow rooted plants. Around now, you should cut back on the watering and start thinking about cutting things back and mulching for the winter. Have you weathered a full New England winter here yet?
This message was edited Oct 16, 2006 8:00 PM
Hi all, just thought I'd join in. I water new plants for 2 weeks daily then stop-I do this all season till my last planting. Of course that makes me thrilled and in wonder of the ease of a rainy day!! A vacation! I'm getting 3 peonies this Wed and possibly 2 hardy roses. We've had 4 days of frosty AMs but I can plant till a hard freeze here in Western MA. I tend to finish in Oct., but sometimes things arrive late. The only thing I've lost here is SDBs that were planted in late August-they rotted with scarce snow cover last year. I replanted this year in late July and they grew nicely. Here's hoping for a good snow cover this year. Makes a huge difference-and also no endless weeks of -20 degree weather! Brrrrrrr! Making myself cold here!
I think I remember : tulips in Oct and all else in November. (or was it the other way around?). Anyway, now through the end of Nov. would be safe. Usually the companies send them when it is good for you to plant. I've found you can trust the ship dates of most any reputable company.
I try to water every 2 or 3 days (less if it rains) when I first put plants out.I don't worry as much about deep watering if I'm planting babies with little roots. I try to give them a few weeks of this head start then, if they look settled, return to watering only during periods of no rain.
Hi--I wanted to thank all you Northeast Gardeners for your helpful advice about watering new perennials in the Fall--I think I get the picture--as well as good advice about taking in my snaky hoses before they freeze! I feel so lucky to have DG in my corner. Yes, this IS my first "gardening winter" ever in the Northeast.
Regarding mulch over new perennials and bulbs: I am confused! Some sources say to spread mulch pretty quick after fall planting; others say to wait till after the ground freezes (or maybe I misunderstood this.) And can mulch be pretty much any thick layer of vegetative material? I have several bags of carefully, obsessively created partially-decomposed homemade compost, and also some bags of pine/spruce mulch. Any difference in the protective capabilitles? I realize that the compost is better for the soil.
BTW, Boojum, what is an SDB? I'm amusing myself thinking of plants: "Special Daffodil Bulb"?
Thanks so much.
--Emily
It's supposed to rain here tonight on the Cape. Yea!
Use hay or oak leaves for mulch. You can also use the pine needles. Compost is more for amending the soil than it is for mulching plants. You can use anything that won't weigh down on the soil as air circulation is important. What I do, and this is just one way of doing things, is cut down anything that doesn't typically grow back on existing shoots and take the bails of hay I have sitting on my front porch and currently serving as shelves for my ourdoor Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations and spread it over my perennial garden Thanksgiving weekend while my wife starts putting up the interior Christmas decorations, giving special attention to sensitive plants like lavender who I mulch earlier with red cedar mulch. I also mow down my hostas and do a light mulching around them, burlap some sensitive shrubs and take boards I hinged together and place them over some of the less sensitive shrubs so I don't have to worry about snow and ice weighing them down over the winter.
Emily, I don't think a lot of these guidelines need to be followed to the "T". I have heard that the later the better (around Christmas) with winter mulch because your not trying to warm the ground but keep it cold once it gets frozen. However, I mulch around Thanksgiving when I'm cleaning up my leaves and trying to finish up outside for the year.I have a hard time thinking it makes that much difference.
In early spring, you should go mulchless to give your soil a chance to warm up then mulch to keep weeds and evaporation down.
Dave
SDBs=standard dwarf bearded irises.
I never would have been able to figure that out! Hi Kathy!
xxxxx, Carrie
Hi Carrie!