Any time in winter is probably best. Just make sure they are dormant. If you dig up a big enough root ball and do not disturb the roots too much, they will never know they were moved.

Dunno.....they just keep on growin'....where are you terriz? I do mulch heavily in winter, straw and wood chips. The latter when I can get them.....hint hint to rtl.... LazyGardens, I tried the root pruning idea but the shovel would not penetrate the ground. I suppose I need to soak the area. Been so darn busy with work, gardening has taken a back seat. I may just order some new chiltepin plants and start a fresh batch of jalepeno's seeds. The jalepeno plants I have are from Biker Billy seeds and some of the fruit really did get quite large although not the 2" long, 1" shoulder that was promised. No complaints though, they are excellent plants and have produced abundantly.

Thanks for the advice. I am new to a big perennial/mixed border because for ten years I lived in the centre of town where I had a small garden with a mixture of annuals and shrubs but very few perennials and lots of pots which I moved round to fill every possible gap. I became an expert on exotics but knew little to nothing about perennial gardening. We moved to this house in the summer of 2005 and still have not planted fully because we spent much of the first year clearing an overgrown and unattended garden and double-digging with well-rotted manure. I am still concerned as to how I lost my lobelia and monarda last winter. I doubt very much they got too soggy round the crown because they were planted towards the top of a sloping border that gets very dry in summer - and stayed very dry last winter because it hardly rained. (Being London, it is clay underneath.) I have since been told that lobelia needs plenty of water and the lack of it may well explain its death. Monarda I know nothing about. The border has been very well prepared, and will be given light organic mulches this autumn and next spring, but I am still a bit concerned as to how plants such as Leucanthemella serotina and Salvia uliginosa, which are supposed to prefer damp soil, will manage in fairly dry, sloping border. Eupatorium purpureum, which I understand also likes some moisture, did not perform well at the top of the border this year - but then it was a young plant growing in a drought, so I guess it might well be fine if we have a more "normal" season next year. (Eupatorium 'Chocolate', planted next to it, has been much happier, and is still flowering now.) But I am consoled, thank you, that it will not be too late to plant out even small perennials growing in soil-less compost in pots during November. One more question: I planted some Marguerites this year, both the ordinary white one (presumably Argyranthemum/Chrysanthemum frutescens?) and Argyranthemum 'Sao Vicente' Madeira Series. They have flowered well since the drought. Will they perform again for me next year, or are they best regarded as bedding plants, to be discarded after one season? They came from a supposedly good garden centre (Capital Gardens at Alexander Palace), but nobody there seemed to know.

ac - Thank you for the thoughts!! :) I love the idea of putting LC on a pillar or obelisk or some sort. To answer your question - I live in zone 5b/6a (right on the border on every map), so in my zone winter pretty much destroys all foliage that isn't evergreen lol. I included a photo of the area as it is currently, (fyi I promise it looks nicer in person haha, something about the camera makes it look significantly move slanted than it really is and more grungy). View from Back Deck (90% of where I view it from - don't mind the fallen tree on the edge of the woods, we're saving it get it removed) View from directly in front of Oasis (I promise there's a good reason I had landscape fabric down, it's a long story haha! Removing the fabric in spring and laying down a thick layer of grass clippings, getting some tan stones to make an edge around the circle as it's a nightmare to edge now). Hard to see the young Hibiscus (hardy) behind the LC on either side, and hard to see the UV Salvia and CC Ajuga. View from behind the Oasis (with my back to the white fence, looking at my house), while it's lovely, I am never behind it except for mowing/weed whacking. Hopefully the hardy hibiscus will grow nice and tall and create kind of a wall from this angle: bart - You bring up a good point, to answer your question: Option 1 would require moving Lavender crush, 1 Ajuga, 1 UV Saliva (I don't have the Lilies, crocus or Munstead Wood planted yet). So I suppose 3 plants isn't really that much movement lol, Option 2 would require moving only Lavender Crush (currently, if you use picture 2 as a reference it is planted where I would put Munstead Wood). ljsemar - thank you! I had some bad results ensue when I didn't plan so now I'm a bit more careful, I'm also still a beginner so it helps me to try to make a visual, and I'm sure your gardens are lovely!