Do you know the type - long-day or short-day? Hopefully they would only sell long day types in your area but no guarantees. Still long-day types is what you should be growing. If you are getting 10-12 hours of daylight by now then they can be planted. Dixondale Farms (noted plant supplier) recommends that if they can be planted within 2 weeks of arrival/purchase you don't do anything to them except keep them cool and dry. These are dormant as is so will do fine as it. Down here they went to the garden a month ago as soon as we hit 10 hours of daylight because we have to grow short-day varieties. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Onion Guide

Thank you both for your feed back it's much appreciated. Beach barbie, I do move the trays regularly by default- my cat keeps drinking the water, even though she always has a fresh bowl available. And I do think it's a tropical variety. BTW I love your name, it creates a warm image. Watergal, I don't see any evidence of pests, but your comment concerned me so I sprayed the entire plant with insecticidal soap just to be sure. On the under side of the foliage I do see some VERY TINY white powder like specs that rub off with the finger, too small for aphids. Any idea what that may be? And am I on target for March to expect new buds. Thanks, Happy Valentines Day..

ellen- I would also encourage you to wait it out until May to decide if things are dead. I had a passion flower that lasted a long time, many years, but winter of 2007 did it in. I was out looking at my fig that only ripens the small figs left from the previous year and for the first time in maybe 10 years it looks like all the little figs are dead. I don't remember really low temperatures either, I'll have to find a record of temps this winter and see if I missed some. If the plants didn't make it just look for some that are hardier to replace them. A few good sales are coming up, like the Hardy Plant Society April 11-12, and in Vancouver the Master Gardener's Sale Mother's Day weekend. Also the Clark County Home and Garden Idea Fair in Vancouver is free admission, April 24-26, http://www.clarkpublicutilities.com/community/hgif/index_html Or arrange a plant swap for the area with the Gardenweb folks. Like they say in the MLM field, "Some will, some won't, who's next?". BTW, blueberries do excellently here and some are very attractive, even evergreen- replace some of those "ornamentals" with something yummy.:-P Here is a link that might be useful: Hardy Plant Society sale

Hey squirrelheaven, Are you serious about your ferns? Mine have never volunteered. Everything else seems to. I love the JP ferns and wish they would reseed. It took them forever to get to a decent size. oakleyoak, I think yours just need some time to get established. In MN, we have had a mild summer. Hi lesmis, my yard is such a work in progress. I have spent this summer widening the garden area. I had to move over 200 brick edgers to widen everything. Now I need more mulch! Here is a pic where I moved the bricks and added mulch and plants: Here is a pic from earlier this year. I swear my dogs pose when they see a camera. Here is one where I moved the bricks but need more mulch and add plants: The Pink Diamonds are just a type of hydrangea that were trained (or grafted) into a tree form versus a shrub. My neighbor has a Limelight tree form. It is lovely!