I ordered from them 5 or 6 years ago, about $600 worth of mainly daylilies and some other perennials. I was totally shocked when the plants arrived. Bareroot, tiny (!), and I paid between $12 and $15 for each daylily variety. I felt totally ripped off. I carefully planted each bare root rizome carefully in a pot first to get them started before I even dared to put them out in the ground. Several didn't make it, the rest took three years before they bloomed. Never again! I have never had to pot up perennials first that I got mail-order. Initially I was willing to pay $12 or $15 for some really neat daylily varieties, but after seeing those tiny sad looking things that arrived I felt ripped off. To be fair, my experience is 6 years old, but I am not chancing it with them again, too many good ones out there to order from.

I'm always sorry to hear about bad mailorder experiences. I hope everyone was successful in getting their money back or at least getting a replacement that grew. But I'm not ready to give up on Roots & Rhizomes. As long as I get what I pay for I'm happy. By this I mean I'm willing to nurse a smaller cheaper plant along for a year or two if it means I can buy more varieties than I would have otherwise been able to afford. And in my opinion R&R has more of the plant varieties I want (I'm thinking of their siberian iris selections in particular... these are newer harder to find varieties that haven't made it over to Bluestone yet). ps. I also ordered those phlox from Jungs..... needless to say I was calling for replacements.

If you're referring to the thick white thing at the top of your second photo, it looks to me like a plastic something-or-other. Is it, or is it part of the plant? If you're referring to the "long white things" nearer the bottom of the photo, those are the roots. I don't see a predominant taproot in the photo so I'm guessing they have more fibrous root systems. I checked one of my perennial books and since no mention was made of a taproot, I'm guessing Chelone has no "special needs" as regards its roots. Commercial bare-root perennials are normally shipped/sold in a dormant state. Having purchased my fair share of them, that can be iffy. Your plant shouldn't break dormancy in your zone until the hours of daylight + moisture + temperature trigger the plant to do so but as Ken points out, other factors must be considered. Also, artificially warm indoor temperatures can cause bare-root plants to break dormancy too early. Ask me how I know this to be true. I haven't kept a record but my seed-grown Chelone plants bloom late in the season which leads me to assume they emerge rather later in Spring than perennials that bloom earlier. In answer to your original question, Ken is correct--they'll need more & closer attention from you if you pot them up now and keep them in a shed or garage where they won't get sufficient (1) natural light; (2) moisture. Final comment: since they bloom late in the season, there's really no urgent need to get them going right away. They may take a season or two before blooming altho' that hasn't been my experience with other bare-root plants.

Six months ago I took some grocery store ginger with a bud and planted it in a pot. I now have a beautiful 3-foot high plant. I'm wondering about winter. If I keep the plant in a pot, and bring it indoors over the winter, is it likely to last more than a few years? (I am NOT interested in harvesting the root.) That is, when the root develops, does the plant eventually die naturally? Or does it start to put out new shoots? If I keep it outside in the 8b winter, is it likely to survive? What air temperatures can it endure? I understand I at least need to keep the roots from freezing. I understand that if it dies back, it may or may not come back the next year. So I'm reluctant to let it do that. I guess I would like some cultivation guidelines for those who want it as a decorative plant, and not to harvest roots.