Too late to plant JM's?

Hi. I'm new to gardening, to Dave's Garden, and to JM's. Like another poster, my husband couldn't resist some JM's that were on clearance. After looking through the threads I have an idea about how to take care of them until the spring. But, we might be able to get a bed ready in the next month. Is that too late to plant in zone7a (Charlottesville, VA)? If not, should I be following the overwintering advice in the interim? These are small trees - 2-3 feet in gallon containers. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

If the ground aint frozen you can certainly plant 'em out ...be sure to at least lightly water ( more if it's real dry out there) but don't over water them... mulch well but leave about 6" away from trunk with cedar or similar mulch 4+ inches deep and fence them if bugs ( bunny) is around... they are likely dormant w/o leaves so I see no problem especially in your area. David

If the ground isn't frozen, plant. While you will not get a great deal of root growth this time of year, you will get some. Just a little bit of establishement and root growth will give your plant a great start for spring and it will handle spring and summer challenges better. Good luck!

Thanks for your thoughts and happy Thanksgiving.

Happy planting! My 'Omure Yama' was tucked in last weekend and sure *looks* happier. I will be building a new bed around it in the spring, but felt it would do better to get its roots down early so I dug a nice wide spot around my little tree so that I won't disturb it in the spring.

Laura