In general, the colder the zone the greater the risk in fall planting. In Z4 I'd say you're much better off waiting until spring, especially for bare root plants.

Hardiness is genetically determined so the zone of a nursery should have little to do with a plant's likely survival in a colder area. As a practical matter, however, it often does. Redbud is a good example. Trees grown from seeds collected in TN will not be as hardy as ones grown from MN trees even though both are the sames species, cercis canadensis. Propagation by cuttings also can exhibit the same variation in hardiness within identical species.

you failed to mention whether they are evergreen .... and whether the plants were JUST SHIPPED.. or have been in your zone all summer

a bare root plant WITH leaves.. is going to have shock issues.. the roots will not have time to establish and pump water to help maintain the leaves.. delay ....

if the plants have just been shipped in.. and have had a questionable time hardening off to your zone ... delay.. just too much shock ...

if bare root.. and bare of leaves... why not give it a go ...

BUT... it might REALLY MATTER to know specifically.. what shrubs you are talking about

more info please ...

your next post should be about how to properly store them ...

ken

In general fall planting of bare-rooted trees and shrubs if for Zone 6 and warmer. The bare-rooting kills the feeder roots, these will not be replaced until spring. Before then the specimen is basically a stick, a cutting that just sits there unable to draw moisture from the soil. That is why the basic routine with bare-rooted stock is to dig in fall, store in a cold and damp facility and ship in spring.

Thank you for your advice. I will wait for spring to plant these shrubs and hopefully order from a nursery located farther north.

What are some of your favorite nurseries for bare root shrubs that are in zone 5 or farther north?
What kind of quality and service has Coldstream Farms nursery given?

Try the Garden Web Sources forum and The Garden Watchdog on another web site.

Only matters when stock of same item being shipped up from much farther south is in more advanced state of seasonal growth and might be frosted if planted out at that time. Or they are growing locally collected wild plants that are kinds that are less hardy than northern forms of the same species, when of southern origin. In effect these are a different item, same as if a completely different, pretty much always tender species was ordered.

With bare-rooted stock, of the same exact item you are getting a dormant specimen anyway. Not the same as receiving actively growing, containerized specimens.

Growing a hardy plant in a warmer climate does not make it less hardy, except for the temporary state noted above, which passes as soon as new growth matures and full hardiness is reached.

Some time ago, I was working for a landscape company in Fargo, ND and we were approached by an apartment complex that had somehow neglected to realize that the expansion they were building was required to have a certain amount of landscaping installed by the end of the year. We were contacted by this company in something of a panic the week of Thanksgiving.

We wound up planting about 450 trees of various species, mostly Malus, Acer, and Fraxinus (at the time EAB was years away), and we planted them bareroot. The plants were shipped in reefers from the nursery and dropped at the site, and if the ambient temperature wasn't above freezing, we didn't open the doors. Also, there was an extra thick layer of mulch put on, and everything got staked. And everything lived.

To make a long story short, if you can put a shovel in the ground, you can plant. If you are dealing with bare root, protect the fine root hairs from freezing in the open air. The later you go in the season, the more important it is to mulch heavily, which actually isn't a bad idea for container stock, esp. smaller sizes and perennials.

There are certain plants I'd only attempt in the spring from bare root. These would be those difficult to sprout varieties, most of which are trees (certain Quercus for example), but there are some shrubs in this category. Clethra and Itea come immediately to mind. If they are hard to break bud, they will be listed as such and the place selling should be citing them as prime candidates for sweating.

Anyone ever have any experience with a method of handling bare root plants referred to as the Missouri sand bed? I know one place in MN that raved about it, but few seem to have ever tried it.

Olympiad, check out Reeseville Ridge Nursery out of Wisconsin for a Z4/5 nursery. They carry a massive selection of trees and shrubs; if they don't list the species you want email them because they might have some in small numbers. They sell mostly small 1-2 yr old bareroot or small-pot seedlings, but the prices are really good so you can buy a lot of them at once. The ones I've gotten have established quickly and grown quite well.

Otherwise, St. Lawrence Nursery is also a great northern nursery but they deal mostly with fruit and nut plants. You could also look up your state's DNR or your county's Soil and Water Conservation District website and look for spring tree sales. Here in MN they sell bundles of 25 seedlings of a wide variety of plants every spring for $20-$35.