I am not familiar with your zone but I personally love transplanting right before a good rain. I know that even when at night the temps drop below freezing you can still transplant shrubs. As a matter of fact they do much better than being transplanted in spring. I would say go for it!!

Temps today here were high 80's I am not transplanting anything yet.

Oh and around these parts as long as you can dig in the dirt we plant shrubs trees etc. In other words as long as the ground is not frozen and a shovel breaks the dirt.

Oh goodie,tomorrow I will do just that,thanks country,I am moving things around like a crazy lady,ha ha
cAROL

Awesome, I hope to get started soon myself!!

cAROL, I harvested hypericum/St. Johns Wort seeds from my neighbor's shrub--want some? His shrub is a nice size, about 4' tall by 3' wide with pretty yellow flowers in spring. He has a lot of shade but the SJW gets quite a bit of full sun midday. LMK and I'll send off some seeds. They're really tiny--as small as dust motes--but I'm going to WS them this year as my 'leap of faith' tribute to the Winter Solstice.

Thanksa Eileen, I would love some,do you still have my addy?I have some Heuchera Seeds,want some of these?Not sure which kind it is, the leaves are all green,with real tall scapes,and white flowers, one of my favorites.
I will send you a e mail.
cAROL

cAROL - sent you an email with my address. I'll need yours again.

Eileen

Carol, not an issue for me here but if you are transplanting now, mulch around the root zone heavily to try to prevent frost heave so you don't find your shrub out of the ground later in a Z5.

Technically, the best time for moving things is the same time as is recommended for new plantings of container grown plants in any zone - year round here if our ground is not so rain saturated for spading that it will destroy the soil structure. Can you safely buy and plant in early October without ground freezing too soon after?

Well, I transplanted a few shrubs today, I hope they will be ok.We should not get a ground freeze til late November,
I will keep them well watered.
cAROL

cAROL, I have read that fall is the best time to transplant shrubs in our area. Cooler temps and more rain, normally.
I moved two mock oranges last week and have some other shrubs to move next week.

I hope so, I transplanted 3 today, still have 3 more to do tomorrow.
How about Iris?Ok to divide now, and plant?
cAROL

I would think iris could be transplanted any time during its dormant period. Though I would be scared about cracking one of the rhizomes and frost getting in it, but then again they aren't actually buried in the ground and the frost and snow hit them and they seem to be fine. I would be willing to try transplanting them now. I mean heck they bloom so early in spring no way you can transplant them before they bloom and avoid frost.

Although it is a bit late for transplanting iris in Z:4 I am moving a whole bed tomorrow. Fortunately, the weather is to be very warm during at least this week, talking about 70s for the weekend. These quotes are from a care sheet handed out by a local nursery.

"In Minnesota, bearded irises are best planted in mid-to late August. If you are planting them in September, keep in mind the later you plant the less likely you are to have blooms the first season. If you are using iris rhizomes that are dry, soak them in warm water for a few hours before planting. Irises that are growing in a pot can be transplanted at any time. Just slip the soil, root system and plant from the pot to the soil, being careful not to plant the iris rhizome too deeply. You should be able to see the top of the rhizome after planting."

"if we have a winter without adequate, reliable snow cover to insulate the ground, newly planted iris may be damaged by the cold. An acceptable compromise seems to be to mulch newly planted irises late in the fall (just before it snows) with several inches of mulch that doesn't compact, such as straw."

Mulch is generally discouraged due to iris borer.

Thanks for all the information about Iris.
I think I will wait til spring, the ones I want to divide are Japanese Iris,Iris ensata,Caprician Butterfly.
One of the most Beautiful, of all Iris, IMO.! :0)
I collected some seed,and will try to grown them ,WS, fashion.Don't know if I can,but I will give them a try. Has any one tryed them from seed?
cAROL

Japanese iris are planted in the spring here. Yes, they are very beautiful.

cAROL - I WS Siberian iris seed I got from nan6161 and they grew beautifully. They're about 12" tall now. I have lots of seeds from my dark blue ones if you'd like some to WS.

Thank you gardenweed,I have a ton of Siberian Iris.
I was going to ask you, if you would like some Yellow Flag Iris seed, and some Red,Lily seed,any way, I think they are Red,you can send me an e mail if ys want any,ok

I have a bunch of Yellow Flag Iris, if any one else is interested, I will be updating my list soon.
cAROL

Thanks for that info on iris's. I pulled a huge amount of grass out of a bed of iris's and I saw the rhizomes and thought, uh oh, but now I know that's the way they're supposed to be!