are they in garage until u r ready to do work or b/c you want to protect plants? cant really generalize about this but what i'd do is make a list of all plants and look online whether they are cold hardy for your area and how much water, if any, they need during this period. If they are cold hardy plants, then you can take outside under a tree and away from wind. If not, plants can stay in garage til spring.

They ended up in my garage because I ran out of time, and once they were in there I thought, is it safe to let these sit out in the cold in containers?

They're all native to my zone, so they should be cold hardy to the temps here. My issue is I don't know whether their being in containers outside will allow their roots to freeze and kill them, as opposed to being underground, insulated on all sides by dirt under a couple inches of mulch.

Let me get this straight.

You are worried about plants that are hardy to -20, -30 or so *freezing* to death somewhere where below zero temperatures are enough to call out the National Guard, and declare the end of the world is nigh?

Get them outside in the rain and sun.

These are things that I'd keep outside in a big pile of leaves.

When plants are described as being attuned to a certain climate, it usually means "established" plants and even plants which have been growing in the ground.

It is a correct concern for plants that are in a pot.

At the same time as saying that, such plants could be hardier than you think. They may lose their leaves and stalks in this weather if you suddenly put them outside (or even if they're supposed to, since they were probably supposed to die back with the frosts anyway), but as long as the root ball (or whatever your perennial will grow back from) is strong, there is a good chance that plant will return in a few weeks when things get warmer again.

If you are not running out of space in the garage for something else, I think you could keep them there, or if you have several of the same varieties, this is a good chance to test out what plants are hardy in pots for your area.

Thanks gardenper. They're all dormant right now so I'm not afraid of their losing leaves, etc. I think I'll put them outside under a tree after this current polar unpleasantness subsides.

Keep them out of any sun, especially if in black pots. The key with dormant plants in pots is to keep them dormant. The north side of a building is ideal.

tj

You're missing the point. Plants/perennial/shrubs/hardy to your USDA Zone naturally go dormant when the hours of daylight diminish, temperatures drop & soil chills.

Q: Would the plants normally grow inside your garage? Chances are the answer is NO. Set them outside and let them go dormant. Those that survive in containers will do so and you can plant them in your garden beds once warm weather returns in the Spring.

Mother Nature has kept the planet green for a few thousand millennia. Trust that she'll keep doing so a while longer and lighten up. YOU'RE not in charge.

Q: If you were a winterberry, where would you rather be, in a garage, or in the ground?

"Q: If you were a winterberry, where would you rather be, in a garage, or in the ground?"

This is a false choice. I do not have a place dug for them yet b/c the new rain garden will take multiple weekends of tilling and digging. The true choice is would the winterberry rather be in the garage, or outside IN A CONTAINER? I'm hearing mixed messages as to whether they'll be fine ABOVE THE GROUND, IN A CONTAINER WITH ROOTS SURROUNDED BY BELOW FREEZING TEMPS so I'm back to where I was before I started this thread.

I love gardening.

Bung them outside.

Right now, the biggest danger to them is breaking dormancy, and trying to grow out in an extremely hostile environment - too dark and too dry.

The first thing you need to get your brain around is that for hardy plants, freezing is a meaningless abstraction. The temperature of concern varies by species, but my guess is that the plants mentioned are fine until the roots go below zero. That is based on the fact that they will survive in the ground in places that can easily get temperatures of -15F or lower without any insulating snow cover. The common recommendation to bring in potted plants so they don't freeze is for the benefit of clay pots, not necessarily the plants in them.

I've kept a fair number of things in pots in my garage over the years. *All* of them have broken dormancy earlier than similar/identical plants planted in the ground outside. In my climate, the difference is manageable. In your climate, they are going to have a hard time staying dormant in a garage. That's when the real fun starts.

Rule of thumb is that plants outdoors in containers should be 1 zone hardier that your zone. Also, the larger the pots, the more likely they are to survive. If they're tough, put 'em out in a protected corner.

raleighguy. Well first off I wouldn't ask where I'd rather be and stuff like that. I'm in zone 7 too and if it was me I'd leave them be for the time being since we have that arctic crud hitting us (do you?) and wait until some milder winter settles in, maybe by the end of January. We are supposed to get out of these teens and 20's after next week. Typical winter temps of 30's to 60's in the daytime with various degrees of cold at night is when I'd move them outdoors. If I had them I'd throw some leaves on top to avoid too much extreme exposure right off.

That said, extreme drops and rises in the temp are the norm around here especially in winter and native plants such as you describe go with the flow taking drops and rises as much as 60 degrees in a single day. We just love this sort of thing. We've even had years that skipped fall altogether and jumped right into winter mode before the plants have a chance to harden off, like this year for example. Your native plants will probably be fine too, ours can take that. I'd give them a good drink when I set them outside too, might be kind of dry in that garage.

By the way, its always so refreshing to hear that someone else is growing natives. I used to live in Fayetteville and I remember the winters were mild like they are here. Hope this helps. I'd go ahead and set them in the ground as soon as you get the place prepared even if its in Feb or March. Sometimes its warm enough to get that kind of thing done early.

i cant imagine.. why a guy in NC ... would bother putting anything in the garage.. you really dont know what a cold winter is.. lol ...

right now.. with 3 days of single digits... i have about 200 potted plants.. tipped on their sides.. sitting on the ground in MI ...

not to mention ... some of those you list.. are MI hardy ...

they are tipped on their sides.. because they freeze solid .. and we dont want water accumulating in a frozen pot.. during any freak warm spells ....

do not confuse air temps with soil temps .... as pots behave differently .. and mother earth is quite a buffer ... for any short term cold snaps ....

just never leave black pots in any winter sun ... they can heat up too fast ....

so if i were you .. i would just stack them.. on the north side of the house ... and ignore them until spring ... the house will buffer them also .....

there are different rules if you are zone pushing.... but i dont know why you would be doing so if you planned on putting them in the ground anyway .....

ken

Agree with Ken, zone 7 is not exactly a harsh winter zone. The plants you've listed are all pretty hardy, and would most likely be okay outside even in pots. Or you can just leave them in the garage until it warms up some. Just be sure to give them a little water every 2-4 weeks.

I overwinter 2 or 3 dozen plants in the garage every year. Some are tender, such as Salvia 'Black & Blue' and Magnolia grandiflora, and others are 1st or 2nd year seedlings that are still quite small.

I even brought in an Asclepias curassavica 'Silky Gold' and am growing it as a houseplant this winter! It's doing great, making some buds.

Nevertheless, I do have a few hardier specimens in pots outside in a semi-sheltered location (such as a Cornus alternifolia in a 1 gallon pot, hardy to zone 3).