get them out of the house ASAP .. and out of the water...

if you cant get to sticking them in the ground for a few days.. reduce water to about one inch.. and drape a towel/rag over the roots and into the water.. to cover the roots.. it will wick up moisture.. and retain it in the root mass ... but not involve submerging roots in water for an extended time ... newspaper will do the same ...

just heal them in.. worry about placement next april ...

they should have been fully dormant ... bringing in the house might have brought them out of dormancy.. and that would not be good ...

ken

I agree with Ken - most of the water out of the bucket, damp newspaper around the roots, and in a cool garage or shed until you can plant them. If you have a vegetable garden or other unused yard space at this time of year, heel them in there for now as Ken suggested if you don't have time for final planting. I'd also mulch them well so they don't get heaved during freeze-thaw situations this winter and spring. They may not survive, but you will only have lost a bit of time if they die.

Red-twigged dogwoods also root relatively easily and grow quickly, so you could also try rooting some of the branches in case the shrubs as a whole don't survive. Here is one set of directions for how to do this, but when I searched for "rooting red-twigged dogwood" a bunch of links showed up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Twig Dogwood Propagation (Cornus stolonifera) @ Growing the Home Garden blog

see.. there you have it.. i was thinking of the fancy flower dogwood tree .. cornus ..

and babs start talking about the run it over with the truck dogwood shrub...

which is it farmboy ...

if its the shrub.. heck ... leave it in a ditch for winter.. and it will grow over the road.. lol ..

in my experience.. if its the foo foo one.. the tree .... they are already dead ... lol .. and that is why they threw them out ..

gold star for trying though.. i tell you.. the free plant is the best plant ...

ken

Thanks guys! They are red twig shrubs. I have what I think is one of the tree variety that I got over a year ago. It's going into it's second winter here. I did get the shrubs out of the basement after the first night when I saw Ken's first post. Wrapped them in old work shirts wetted down and put them back outside in a sheltered area by the back of the house. Today (Saturday) I planted them in what should be a good location if they survive. Neighbors probably thought I was nuts, planting stuff when there's snow on the ground. But it got into the mid thirties and much of the white stuff melted.

Yep, the free plants are the best....

Thanks again, Happy Holidays!

vince