Not if the plants are hardy in your climate and it doesn't turn bitterly cold afterward. New roots will come out when the tops start growing.

z5 is about half the country .. can you be a bit more specific ...

and where are the plant coming from ... if mail ordered in from a warmer zone.. i would worry about hardening off ...

about 2 or 3 more weeks in my cold zone 5 MI ... IMHO... mostly that is when the ground will thaw ...

ken

I'm in northeastern Illinois. About an hour northwest of Chicago. I'm buying the plants from a nursery in Tennessee.

Nick, I full-well understand your "itch". Just be aware...nothing is going to grow, no roots, let alone upper portions of the plants, before temps are sufficiently warmed up to allow for such. Now it is probably best if no new top growth does occur. It's highly unlikely that there is no more cold air coming. Even if next week is warm, it's the week after.........and the one after that...that are of concern. New tender growth, if it does appear, will almost certainly be exposed to very cold air before this winter thing is over. I'd wait.

On a side note, why Tennessee? Not to paint with too broad a brush, but that state's ahem...nursery industry, is one of scammers, wildcrafting of rare species (Taking them out of nature and selling them to folks who most likely end up killing them), and just generally a low-ethics mindset. Sorry to any excellent practitioners that I've just maligned....but this is the truth. Lots of very scammy nurseries down that way, let alone the question of are you getting zone-appropriate plants.

i think TN is z6 and or 7 ...

you can NOT slam them into the cold ground in z5 without hardening them off ...

and btw... potted cultivars or bare root plants???

i would probably hold them i the garage for at least a week or two ... with the door open during the day ... so there is no heat build up ... and door closed at night... to avoid low temps ...

especially if potted plants ...

ken

don't start working wet soil ,,,,it will turn to rocks

ron

in my sand.. it wouldnt matter ... so it would depend on his soil type ... ken

@wisconsintom I'm getting the plants from this place: http://www.evergreenplantnursery.com

They recieved pretty high marks from Daves Garden: http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/4445/#b

And there prices are the best I've seen.

@Ken they are potted cultivars. They specifically state on there website that they never send bare root plants.

I guess I should wait until my climate and the plants original climate are similar? I guess I assumed that both climates are similar enough this time of year that it wouldn't matter. And possibly some wishful thinking thrown in there too.

There prices are pretty good though. I may just buy them and hope for the best. Anybody around here have any experience with the nursery I linked to?

call them and find out if they are coming from a greenhouse.. or outdoors ... that is where a big difference could come from ...

and while you have them on the line.. ASK THEM...

ken

Yes, Nick, that place is pretty well-known. I don't have any particular knowledge about it, but others here do. As to Dave's Garden as a source for unbiased info....that too is somewhat suspect, but I'll leave it there for now, since others will know more.

The issue with Dave's-I should elaborate just a bit on that-isn't so much that one can't trust what they read there, but rather, whoever runs that board-is it "Dave"-will kick people off for objecting to someone touting an invasive species...that kind of thing. Just don't quite seem to be "with it". That said, I have a subscription and do faithfully read it each week. You can learn things...just got to be careful.