I think now is the time. Once they bloom, they will go dormant quickly, and your opportunity to get them established might be past.

If you had that same heavy rain we had last night I would say this evening would be ideal.

thanks, interesting you mention the rain... i had always thought it is *not* a good time to plant/transplant after a rain because you end up compacting the wet soil?

any other input on that? i've been waiting for a sunny, dry day but it's snowing now!! ;)

I'd prefer to wait until after they had bloomed and were going yellow. I transplanted some rather more advanced in growth, but they wilted so quickly and irrevocably that I don't think I'd challenge them in any stage of active growth.

Sunny, dry, hot, not so good to transplant. Nice drizzle, cool, perfect time to transplant. We were so dry, now with the nice cool rain (and snow) I've strated to move stuff around.

You are right though, be careful not to compact the soil.

well i transplanted two out of the three this morning. we will see what happens!