Could you go ahead and dig your holes before the soil is wet, and then pop the plants in when they come?

I'm at work, I can't. BF is home, but without me there to tell him where to dig it's pointless.

Plus to complicate that anyway I have painters putting finishing touches on repainting the entire house (they aren't done until Monday I think) so digging holes today would be totally in their way.

Blah. This stinks!

Is it possible for you to pot them up until you have time to plant them?

I plant in the rain, but don't like to do it in pouring rain... But I do plant in light rain. I'm extra careful about where I step and handling the rose gently with muddy soil. The rose might sink down into a muddy hole, so one must be especially attentive to planting depth.

I mix in organic topsoil blends with the native soil, to lighten up the clay, this also needs to be done gently and carefully with wet soil.

If you prefer to not plant in the rain, I would leave the roses in the plastic bag that they came in, and leave them in the cardboard box as well. Place them in the basement or garage until you're ready to plant.

Mori - potting them is possible, but means I'd have to go and purchase pots etc. I don't have anything readily available - I just started re-gardening in a new home after a long period of not gardening. I had to move to an apartment for several years and of course, had to get rid of all garden accessories (well actually my ex, got to keep all that stuff since I had nowhere to keep it all *makes sad face*).

Krista - I'm leaning towards your idea of keeping them in the plastic they arrive in/box, etc. and putting them in my basement most likely, which will be the coolest place I think. It is supposed to warm up a bit next week with the rain, and I suspect my unheated basement might be a better area for them, than even my detached garage where it may get too warm.

Start them soaking. 5 days in soak won't hurt them 7 days in soak won't hurt them... I have put mine in their 5-gallon paint cans (32-gallon trash cans for the Palatine monsters) and sat them right in the garden to be rained on.

Yes, you can plant in the rain.

I've soaked my roses for weeks. Just change the water every week or so and they'll be fine. I prefer not to plant in the rain since my soil is clay and compacts easily. Also, I get incredibly muddy. I usually wait a day or two after rain if I can so it isn't too wet when I plant but I still want the soil to be a bit damp.

I am embarrassed to admit that I once left a couple of roses soaking for more than a month. When I did find them and plant them not only did they survive but they thrived. If you have buckets, kitty litter pails or those totes fill them with water and let the roses soak until you can plant them. They'll be fine. Try to remember where you put them though, lol!

Hi all,
Thanks for all your reassuring answers. I'm in the same boat (I'm going to really need one--we desert people are not used to a lot of rain) as sivyaleah. Now I know I can soak my rose longer than 24 hours without dire results! Diane

How many do you have? I plant in the rain all the time, unless it's really pouring out.

I only have 4 arriving, which isn't so bad. I was going to hit up one of the local nurseries while out and about today because they have creeping phlox in and it's one of my favorites. I want to scoop up some of those.

I looked at the weather report just now when I woke up. It seems to have changed somewhat. I think tomorrow isn't going to be bad now. The morning looks like it's going to be clear with showers later in the day. We tend to get up rather early so hopefully we'll be able to get them into the ground as planned.

*does happy dance* (with trepidation lol)

Laurie

Let us know how it goes! I love planting right before it rains.

Well, we managed to get them in the ground before the rain began. There's like a 70% chance later; so we decided not to water in yet. At the moment my exterior water is still off for the season and dragging out buckets of water from the house isn't so appealing. The ground is still really moist from yesterday so if it doesn't rain by 7ish, we deal with it then.