It depends... on the variety and the condition of the plants. My experience is that most HTs have x number of winters in them. Fall planting makes that x-1. It's usually a small enough number that subtracting 1 matters. I used to feel this way too, until I learned through trial & error exactly how deep to plant the roses. For me, it was visually about 2 inches under, then you have the plant settling (we did at the old house, not as much here). By the time it was covered with mulch, it was a few inches under. My roses ended up own rooting. It took about 3 years for every rose, they would die down, end up with 2 canes sometimes but year 3 they took off. I haven't lost a rose in years. I have a very small garden and would like to get it up and running by early summer. Question is...am i better off buying mature potted plants and heeling (sp?) them in or am i better off getting them in the spring? Also, if i do heel them in is it just a matter of digging a hole that will contain the pot? You're in zone 5, I was in zone 6. We had mild winters the last 2 years while mine were in pots (dug them out to sell the house). What I did was put them along the back fence in the corner or between our 2 sheds. In the back and along the sides plus the ground, I took hay and made a blanket out of it. I then added the roses, adding more hay between them. We then added some to the top. I then lined it with perennials. Worked pretty well. I lost a few in the end but it wasn't over the winter, it was after between spring & summer but mine were in pots for 2 winters. If you do find bargains it might be worth it. You could do a combination of what I did but put them in the ground on their side or at an angle, then insulate with straw.

I always order my plants/trees at the end of the season. Often times, the trees that I receive from a nursery have been nursed all year, therefore are larger than the new stock that was put out at the beginning of the season. My trees come with leaves and fruit and I know instantly if I have a healthy plant or not. Also, this way the tree goes dormant at my house and springs to life in the spring, unlike dormant trees with which you wait til spring to see if the tree will flourish, I have one now that I received this spring and it never came out of dormancy so now I've lost this year's growing season. With fruit trees that are shipped dormant only, I order like everyone else but with things like figs, I've gotten great results by ordering late. My most recent experience is with Greer Gardens. I ordered five fig trees from them in September, asked them to ship in October since the trees would be in route for a week coming from Oregon. The trees arrived yesterday, in great condition, and again with leaves and fruit. The fruit is ready to ripen and I'll get to enjoy it this year. All the trees are 4ft or taller and one is even taller than me (I'm only 5'3" but...). ***I ordered larger size trees but I always do and I don't always get what I pay for. So, I agree they won't grow much this late in the year but in my opinion it is beneficial to get them now if you are prepared to care for them. Good luck!

These are hardy lily bulbs that don't like to be kept in storage too long so as long as your ground isn't frozen, you can safely plant them in your well prepared soil. Make sure you have good drainage and an organic mulch on top will help keep the bulbs cool as they settle in and root before the sprout comes up! I hope this helps! Cheers, Riz

hey nucci. I started doing this when I lived in Z6 in northern Arkansas. None of the local nurseries wanted to carry over their hostas to next spring and had "buy 1-get 1 free". Once they had a buy 1 get 3 free sale on Ginko Craig. I bought 2, got 6 free, and they all were easily divided into 4 or more plants which I did immediately. All I have ever done is crowd the potted plants close to a building on the south or east side, away from dessicating winds. I never have watered them. Like hostas in the ground, they go dormant and wake up the following spring. I have done this with a couple of hundred hostas and have lost only 3-4 at the most. I experimented one year and put some divisions in the ground and potted others. In general I would estimate that potted young hostas that don't have to compete with weeds, etc. exhibited almost 50% greater development than their in dirt sibs. I can only say this is true for late in the season purchases, like if you bought them now. In Z6 it seems the nurserymen don't like to use a lot of their water to save their hostas since 90-100 degrees is not rare in (normal) August and September. I just continued potting late bought hostas when I moved back to Illinois and it works in Z5 the same way. I assume that could be said for more northern climes also as long as they are protected against the Alberta Clippers. Les