A lot of the bulbs and tubers you mentioned are not hardy in your zone, so you have to dig and store cool and dormant over winter whether you move or not - cannas, glads, dahlias, fressia, caladium callas etc. You probably should Google each to find the best method for winter storage since they will vary a lot.

Plan on leaving the tulips, daffs, hyacinths behind. They have to stay in the ground over winter because they're putting down roots for next springs blooms.

Lilies - You could dig and store over winter, but they have to be kept very cold otherwise they'll sprout during storage, but you can't let them freeze either. Storage temps consistently in the low 40's might do the trick.

The other perennials could be potted now and stored somewhere, but keep in mind they have to be protected from the freeze and thaw cycles or if they're kept too warm, they might sprout midwinter. All very tricky in zone 4.

That's my 2 cents. Maybe others have more suggestions. Depending on how many plants you have, this could be a monumental task to accomplish before winter sets in which as you know can come very soon in our part of the country.

Kevin

This issue of the moving gardener has come up before. I think the best advice is basically to leave most things, taking only the irreplaceable, perhaps because of sentiment (i.e. i got this peony from my grandmother's garden)or the extremely rare plant. I agree that trying to move an entire garden at the start of winter, especially on the chance that you might find a place, and in zone 4 at that... Well....

Also, even if you find a place, closing may take months and why not arrange with your landlord to take stuff in spring--and leave him some too as a bonus.

you are moving.. you have a budget..

include a budget for your garden ...

ANYTHING.. you can buy/replace for a few dollars.. LEAVE IT THERE ...

trust me.. i moved 1650 pots one summer/winter ... its a nightmare ... took me 3 months to dig it all out ... it doesnt sound like you have 3 months.. ground freeze and all ...

to do such.. i invested a couple hundred dollars in potting media.. and collected all the pots from recycle bins at nurseries ...

if it had not been a precious/valuable collection of hosta.. and in hindsight.. i should have skipped the whole nightmare ...

i doubt if you have much time left in z4 to really do this properly ... but i wish you all the luck in the world ...

ken

I appreciate all the responses. I know this is going to be borderline insane to move everything successfully, but I know I'll be more sad if I don't try. I have a ton of left over nursery pots that I'll have to put a lot of the strictly root-perennials in. My problem is that I literally have to rip out the entire garden- fence, edging, woodchips, every plant, etc. since it was not there when I moved in so it must be gone when I move out. There is no way for me to come back and get anything and if I leave any plants there they will be mowed over or lost to careless neighbors. I knew this day would come when I put it in, and I've dreaded it. But- here I am. I was curious to see if anyone out there has went through a similar situation in which they were successful in moving everything. It might be impossible to save everything and have a beautiful garden next spring & summer.. but I will try! Digging commences this weekend.. wish me luck! Also, if anyone else has any additional comments- I appreciate! Thank you all!

Well, if you are going to attempt this, my question is do you have an unheated garage or shed? If so, you can pot up the perennials, let them go dormant outside in the pots, then bring them into the unheated area. If you can cover the windows to keep it dark, that is helpful. Water them once when you bring them in, and then maybe once in late January, early February (if there is snow on the ground I just shovel some snow and dump it on top of the pots.)

When spring comes you can bring them out and replant, if you have moved by then.

If you don't have an unheated area, some people plant the whole pot in the ground (sounds like way too much work for me!). Or you can dig a trench, line up the pots, and fill with leaves or straw. You can also - although I am much warmer than you so I don't know if this would hold true in your zone - you can gather the pots together and surround with hay bales and fill with leaves, or surround with bags of leaves, etc. Keep in mind this invites critter damage, but if you do it late enough hoepfully the critters have already found their winter homes.

Again, I am in a warmer zone so you may want to double check my suggestions with someone in your area.

Lastly, it sounds like some of your plants can be easily grown from seed at your new spot. Lupines, columbines, foxgloves, rudbeckia... it might just be easier to buy seed and start anew.

Good luck, both with the move to a new house and with the move of the garden!

Dee

Forget the blooming next year part. Depending on the exact care, and the exact plant, it may or may not happen. The odds are against it.

Given that, what plants are difficult to replace? I'd concentrate on those.

yes, I absolutely agree with mads - I may well be in the same position myself soon too - consider only taking what cannot easily be grown from seed or readily available and prioritise like mad. You know what you absolutely could not live without and what is basically a bit of a ground filler. Also, some of them are liklier to be more successful while others really hate being transplanted (I wouldn't bother with the canterbury bells or lupine) Also,the earlier flowering perennials tend to respond to an autumn planting while the later bloomers do better with a spring move so draw up a list and stick to it. And yep, this means a lot of potting soil and big pots but hey, I would definately make the attempt but expect to leave some things behind.

I would pick a couple favorites to take with you and leave the rest behind. Doing more than that is just creating headaches for yourself. There is nothing more exciting than starting a perennial garden anew -- and you will get blooms the first year. The only way I would attempt a large scale transplant is if you are facing budget constraints.

Certainly did a large scale transplant of perennials myself, when moved. Had to rent a small truck to do it. Did leave the (spring) bulbs. But all the potting up, moving and replanting was done within one growing season.

On the other hand, at least here, it seems pretty easy to keep potted up perennials over winter. I do it yearly with dozens of perennials. Most are potted up by fall, using garden soil, labelled, watered on an ongoing basis, cut back before winter and kept in a place where the pots stay frozen until spring. Perhaps the success depends (as suggested above) on the fact that keeping things frozen, all winter, is easy here.