|
| I was given a bunch of young Garden Phlox yesterday, but I am worried they are too small to survive a Long Island/Zone 7 winter. Does anyone know how big these plants would need to be to make it? Is there even a rule of thumb for this? I would think that a zone hardy perennial would be somewhat safe if it had the entire spring & summer to develop, but I believe these were probably started in early summer, maybe even July? (they have no real "stem" yet, but about 4-5 developed leaves on each one that are fully out of the ground, but nothing else is showing yet) Unfortunately I don't have a good setup in my home right now to be able to bring anything inside for the winter, or else I would just plan to do that. Do I write them off as a lost cause (*sigh* that would suck!) or is there something I can do to try to help them make it through? Any input from more experienced people out there would be very helpful! |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by mad_gallica Z5 Eastern NY (My Page) on Fri, Sep 5, 14 at 12:10
| Since I have phlox volunteers, extremely small ones have to be able to survive the winters. A bigger problem is going to be drying out. I honestly wouldn't worry about winter. |
|
- Posted by ken_adrian MI z5 (My Page) on Fri, Sep 5, 14 at 12:18
| z7 long island.. has no clue what a bad winter is ... lol ... they do just fine here in z5 MI ... where winter is winter ... not some news event .. dont worry about them ... there is NOTHING better you can do .. other than put them in mother earth ... any other ideas ... are contrary to mother earth.. and will only complicate.. how easy it is ... part of your problem.. is thinking about them as babies ... they arent.. they are zone appropriate plants.. that have been coping in mother earth for millions of years ... so let them ... good luck ken |
|
| I also have found small phlox to be quite vigorous and have good survival. |
|
| Thanks so much! I was worried that maybe the roots/plant/whatever hadn't had time to develop enough to make it through. As this is the first house I've been able to garden at I'm still learning. As a side question, do most zone hardy perennials have the ability to make it through a winter even if they don't quite seem sturdy? I have a few other plants that are just breaking ground (don't have anything invested in them, had the seeds and threw them in early August) I would think that there needs to be some level of establishment for a plant to make it? no? |
|
| The answer is 'it depends'. I sowed seeds just six weeks ago of coreopsis lanceolata and Engelmannia peristenia. I have transplanted them into dixie cups and will be planting them into the ground in a couple of weeks. The coreopsis is nearly half the size of a flowering size plant already (to my surprise), the engelmann's is a much smaller rosette. Both plants will form a basal rosette for the winter and should be just fine. Both plants are hardy to zone 3 or 4. If however, I planted lantana horrida seeds, which is fairly hardy here, at the same time, it would be perhaps 3 leaves by now..and would almost certainly perish. |
|
- Posted by mad_gallica Z5 Eastern NY (My Page) on Fri, Sep 5, 14 at 14:38
| It is possible that you might have problems with plants rated to zone 7. However, since most of the common perennials are hardy to at least zone 5, your winter temperatures aren't something they are going to worry about. |
|
| What kind of rootballs do they have? I don't use the top/visible growth as my guide for seedlings, but use how extensive the young root systems are. |
|
- Posted by phlowerpower 5 (My Page) on Fri, Sep 5, 14 at 19:29
| I'm in zone 5 and perennials hardy to my zone or below, sown in July survive over winter for me very well. They are often only a couple of inches tall by the first frost. Hope your seedling do well next year ! |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Perennials Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here
