Not planting out, but still had more I wanted to move to a different spot before winter.

Spent a little more time on bed prep/fall cleanup/leaf mulching today and thought I'd freeze. My husband collected more leaves for me (mowing) and dug out an old liriope which I couldn't get out. My hands were so cold they were numb. Been in the house for over an hour and I still feel cold.

I must be one of the world's best procrastinators.

Karen

I finished a few weeks ago, but I'm a zone colder, and we have already had snow, and lows in the teens.

Today is the first day since Tuesday, that it actually got out of the 30's for a high temp., so I got out there and did the last of the fall cleanup for the perennial beds, and pots of annuals on the porch.

There is one Gaillardia 'Burgandy' that I am tempted to move today, but they are predicting snow again tomorrow night, so I'm afraid it's already too late.

DH wanted to hang the bikes in the garage today, but I asked him to wait a little longer. I'm not ready to admit that winter is almost upon us.

Bonnie

I have 8 containers of white larkspur that I started a month ago that have their second set of leaves already (little rosettes). I'm not sure if I should keep them in the containers or plant them. Any suggestions?
E

Aaaaah, Bakemom... You had to bring that up, did you???!!! LOL!

It was 18C here today, 70F for you. The sun came out and I spent the day walking by some winter sown Buddleias, Euphorbias, and Sweet Williams in pots. Not to mention the Hydrangea Grandifloras, Honeysuckles, and Weigelas rooted from cuttings still in pots too.

But the day was extremely productive. I rebuilt my fourth compost and it looks great. DH had torn it down a couple of weeks ago since it was rotting. Today's creation was built out of galvanized fencing material, rebars, and wood.

I did place a lot of things in the holding bed and the veggie plot a couple of weeks ago and am glad that was done. What's left is about 25 pots and I just might create a pot ghetto where they will go for the winter covered in leaves.

Karen, You need a wood stove. Nothing like it when you come in from the cold.

Another Procrastinator.

I feel guilty admitting this, but on Thursday I finally potted up my WS daylily crosses and a container of WS purple Japanese Iris. They are potted up in large drink containers, saved from trips to McDonald's for Sweet Tea. They, along with rooted daylily prolifs will be spending this winter in our unheated, windowed, sunporch. I have had good success in wintering-over pots of daylilies and irises in this porch. I just like to keep experimenting to see how I can make use of the porch when we are no longer out there because it's too cold.

By the way, it was probably a good thing that I waited so long to pot up the Japanese Irises because the seeds slowy germinated for months.

Linda

I have a empty new bed that I will use for a holding bed this winter. I buried some odd & ends, pots & all, in it till spring, but then I was at Wallmart & got 6 hostas for a buck apiece & some phlox for 25 cents a pot (about 6 bucks worth):) that I have to put some where, plus 2 pine trees.
lilly ")

I think all my plants are either planted or pots sunk in the ground except for the pots that I put on the east side of the house and place big bags of leaves around and on top of them. We have had temps in the 70s this week but now it is low 30s for the next couple of days before back to more normal 40s.

I also had to rebuild my rotting compost bins earlier this fall and have filled them already.

etravia - I would plant them out - the bigger they get the harder larkspurs are to transplant. Unless someone else can give you better information (since I am not in your zone), I would plant them out.

Carrie

Right on the larkspur, Carrie. It was Vera who first told me this. Those that get a start in fall, overwinter in the ground, and thrive next year. Some of my volunteers are about 4-8" now. Most, the other few million, are only about an inch or less. But they don't bat an eye at winter weather.

Karen

It was drizzly and damp here today and though I have a few pots to get in the ground (a gallon pot of caryopteris blue mist and a bunch of 4 inch pots of something I can't remember right now) they did not get done.The tubers I need to dig up also did not get dug (dahlia, caladium.) Oh, and the seeds I need to start packing in zips also did not get packed. What did get done? Apparently not much! I think that after a busy gardening season and then a whole lot of seed collecting I am running out of gas.

I did spend some time with a package of seed that arrived from Summer Hill Seeds, looking up heights, colors, etc. I had mixed feelings about that. On one hand it was fun, a little thrilling to look at pics on the internet and imagine those plants in my yard. But on the other hand I find it annoying to have to do this with purchased seed. How hard would it be for them to print the height and color on the package? I understand that many purchased seeds do not come with pictures cause it can make the packaging expensive, but I think basic info should be included.

Nancy

Larkspur here germinates during warm winter spells and sticks it out through whatever hits them. I am so amazed when people say they can't grow them b/c I can't think of an annual more hardy. I have a huge crop of them each year. I try and send out seeds b/c these guys are tough nuts - purple, white, pink and bi-color.

The trick with larkspur is to get a good crop of them just once. Then you'll probably have volunteers forever. I thought I had deadheaded mine pretty well this year, but I have an awful lot of reseeders now. I've put thick leaf mulch over a lot of them, because I just don't have space for that many. I do want a few though because they're so pretty.

It's looking like I'm not going to get any more perennials moved this year. Highs in the 40s now and a low of 28 tonight. I did take out one hedge row of Yvonne's salvia yesterday but I still have to collect seeds (hopefully today)and dig out the other hedge row on the other side. I can't yank them, the roots are too big and the main stems an inch or more in diameter. I have most of my leaf mulch down except in the areas of these 2 rows of salvias and the area along the back fence line.

Compost needs to be flipped too, and I need to stash more leaves and hope to collect some pumpkins on garbage night.

Karen

I too am slightly embarassed to admit that I still have about 35 WS seedlings in small nursery pots sitting in the pot ghetto. Well, in mid-summer it was over 100, so that's an improvement. That's one of the problems with winter-sowing - too many seedlings! :)

We have had unusually mild and drizzly weather lately, so it's perfect for transplanting. Two days ago, I planted out 12 seedlings of Polemonium reptans (Jacob's Ladder). These are easy to start from seed, and I already lost most of the first wave of transplants during the summer - slugs! So, I'm pushing the envelop and planting stuff to see if it will make it through the winter. What's to lose?

I've got about a dozen seedlings of native perennial vines - Campsis radicans (trumpet vine), Clematis virginiana, and Aristolochia - still sitting in those little pots. I don't have trellises ready for them, so they are going to have to be sunk into the ground in a veggie area for the winter. There are also a few warm-season grasses in little pots. They are dormant now, but I'm thinking of planting a few just to see if they'll make it. They too are very easy to start from seed.

nope, no planting for me this year, everything that did not get planted goes into cold frame, but I did started my WS. Larkspur went it, and few others warm-cold-warm germinators.
Am thinking of starting few hardy ones, like dianthus inside cold frame so things are easier in the spring.

I'm glad someone else has planting out left. I have some foxglove babies that I've been staring at trying to decide if I want to plant them that close to the woods. It is snowing now. I'm guessing my answer is no. Guilt be gone!

Okay, let's stir the pot a little bakemom. Here's where a husband could come in handy for you. He could inadvertently shut off the drip irrigation in the middle of summer so all your seedlings in containers would die. No need to plant out. Problem solved. Oh wait, I'm confusing your situation with mine! :