Well, if they survive your winters, I don't know any reason why you couldn't plant them in early fall, as long as they have enough time to get established. I guess the only question is whether they would be big enough to bloom the next year, of it it would take yet a second summer of growth, resulting in production 18 months from the time of planting.

One thing I think you could do is perhaps start them in June or early July, grow them in pots and baby them, so that you have really large transplants to put out in September. That would probably result in production in the spring of 2013, but would of course be more work, having to tend them through a hot summer.