A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Hi from Long Island New York

Hi my name is Elisa. I consider myself to be a beginner gadener. I'm hoping you can help me decide what to do about some plants I just bought from Franks nursery (they're going out of business so they had some great deals). We just had our first snowfall and now I have these perennials and I don't know whether to bring them in the house or leave them in their pots with lots of mulch and leave them outside or in the garage. The plants I bought are viburnum, java red weigler, lynwood goldforsythia,physostegia crown rose, and hemerocallis. I've tried to find this info in books so I really appreciate any advice you can give me . Thanks!

Hi Elisa,

Sorry I couldn't get to you before this but my computer was too ill to work for quite a while. I've had a similar situation so here's what I would recommend.

I don't know where you have been keeping them, but they all really need the cold conditions outdoors. If you can find mulch or top soil that isn't frozen, go ahead and put the plants on top of the soil with enough room between them so you can fill in with the mulch or soil. Make sure they are watered well before you do this. This is called healing in.

If it's possible that the soil isn't frozen yet, you could dig holes and just put the pots into the soil up to their rims for the winter. Topdress with mulch or soil.

Hope this helps,
Newt