A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 im kinda wondering???

i bought 3 columbine bare root plants from dutch gardens last fall and got em in the ground weel before cold set in. i have two in the sun and one int the shade. the shade one is doing fine as well one of the ones planted in the sun,a bit of green all winter long. one of them in the sun doesnt seem to be doing as well. i put a plastic jar over the sickly onre las night as we seem to have a freeze coming here to st louis and i didnt want it to go backwards.(did the same for a bleeding heart that seems like its not measuring up to its bedmate) . am i harming these plants by doing this?
looking for feedback!
thanks
mike

I doubt if you are harming them...I put glass jars, plastic pots, etc. over some of my plants that are already up and growing if we are expecting a late frost. Just remove the jars during the heat of the day or you may burn them up. With that said, it's probably not necessary to cover the columbine if they were planted last fall...they have already acclimated to cold weather and shouldn't be bothered by more frost. The one that isn't doing as well may have been a smaller plant, planted a little too deep, not getting enough water, etc. The list can go on and on...hopefully it will start to do better when warmer temps set in for good.

i HAVE BOTH plants, THE WEATHER WONT HURT THEM, IF THEY FREEZE AGAIN......THEY BOUNCE BACK EASILY.. I AM zone 6 AND MY COLUMBINE IS PUTTING OUT NEW LEAVES NOW.. WE HAVE FREEZING EVERY NITE..
LET MOTHER NATURE HANDLE IT.........SIT BACK AND WAIT FOR 65 DEGREES.........THEN WRITE US.


DODGE

yeah if they have been in the wild that long they should not have too much trouble.i usually cover just the weaklings or freshly planted ones.

Hey Mike,

I'm just across the river in Ilinois so I'm dealing with the same nasty weather you are. I was not able to get out and cover my bleeding heart plants,