|
| Early this summer, I potted a number of my perennials (joe pye weed, purple asters, sedum, day lilies, echinacea) from my PA garden for transplanting to a garden in upstate NY. We were never able to get the plants in the ground and they are doing nicely in their pots. What is the best way to overwinter them? We have already had frost warnings, so I can't imagine that taking them out of the pots now and planting in the ground is a good idea. Can I leave them in the pots and sink them into the ground (and cover with mulch)? Any other ideas on how to keep them alive over the winter until we can plant them in the spring? Many thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by mad_gallica Z5 Eastern NY (My Page) on Fri, Sep 19, 14 at 12:43
| From the plants point of view, there is nothing wrong with planting now. I've planted a lot of fall sale plants with very few casualties. |
|
- Posted by ken_adrian MI z5 (My Page) on Fri, Sep 19, 14 at 12:45
| frost equals air temp ... what does it have to do with ground temps .. the easiest.. simplest.. most bullet proof methods is to plant them ... you can bury pots.. IF your soil drains .. but the pot itself.. will still complicate it all ... they can go into the ground.. until ground freeze ... or all winter otherwise ... does you soil freeze? ken |
|
- Posted by bella_trix z6b SE PA (My Page) on Fri, Sep 19, 14 at 13:00
| The ground definitely freezes here (we had -5F temps last January), but I don't think it will freeze soon. I'm still trying to figure out the timing on this area of New York (Finger Lakes region), but I think the ground will not freeze until late November. Thanks, |
|
- Posted by SunnyBorders 5A (My Page) on Fri, Sep 19, 14 at 16:18
| We're on the other side of Lake Ontario from Rochester and up a bit from Toronto. Late November seems reasonable. You can't imagine how unpleasant (very cold hands) it is to chop through perhaps an inch (by then) of frozen soil and plant spring bulbs in mid December. As said elsewhere, I find no problem in overwintering perennials, planted in garden soil, in pots outside. Water up to the time of freezing. Ours do fine, frozen solid, in a protected place (e.g. against a wall) covered by the snow. As per Ken (not that he referred to this exactly), the soil in the pots should be about the same as the soil in the garden. As a general rule, here at least, plants grown in growers' peat-perlite mix should have most of it pulled off before being planted in the garden. Otherwise, here at least, the peat-perlite mix will freeze, in winter, at a different rate to the garden soil around the plant and the plant is likely to be killed. |
|
| I'd advise to plant now and mulch well around them but not over the crown. I have lost plants in pots, often because they don't drain well, but haven't lost ones I've planted to anything but voles, and that's a problem year round. The mulch helps prevent multiple freeze-thaw cycles, so the plants won't heave. |
|
| I live in Plattsburgh NY and plant in the fall all the time. I have even bought bulbs at Black Friday sales (for a dollar!!) and had them come back!! |
|
- Posted by bella_trix z6b SE PA (My Page) on Tue, Sep 23, 14 at 11:00
| Thanks, everyone! They have been planted in the ground, out of the pots. Hopefully, they will get well established before the really cold temperatures arrive. Now, if I can just figure out how to overwinter my black and blue salvia in this area of New York :). That can be next year's project. Thanks again, |
|
| If you have a cool indoor area, potted 'Black and Blue' will overwinter. I've kept a pot in my root cellar and others in my little used and unheated (except by solar gain) front foyer. I just have to periodically check moisture levels so that they don't totally dry out. They also survived but didn't look good in the 60-65 degree kitchen by a bright window. |
|
| I use three approaches to overwintering perennials in pots. 1. Place in unheated but insulated garage. Agree with others, the best idea is to plant them before the ground freezes. |
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
