The size container needed will depend on the size of the plants when received. I seldom do mail order but I recall the plants quite small on arrival and so a 1G nursery container would be an appropriate bump up for a few months. If the arriving plants are larger then move to a larger 2G pot also. Avoid anything overly large but also smaller than the 1's.

Use a high quality potting soil you might find at a better nursery or garden center. I'd avoid any of the Miracle Gro soils as they have a terrible reputation for being overly dense and excessively moisture retentive and plants will struggle. Most better garden centers (not box stores) will have local brands they feature that should work well enough for a few months. When you pot the plants up, apply a small amount - according to the label - of a CRF like Osmocote. That will address any fertilizing needs until the beds are ready and you can plant in the ground.

Keep the pots in an area that receives some sun - morning is best - and some shade. Protect from the hottest afternoon sun. And pay very close attention to watering. Pots can dry out very rapidly once the temperatures climb in late spring. I'd check them daily for water needs.

Gardengal, thank you so much. This is exactly what I needed to know.

I really appreciate you detailing it all and also about the sun/shade conditions because I would have made a mistake as I planned to put these pots on the west side of our house. Not a good idea, as it turns out. Since I try to use organic materials, I'll probably use bonemeal instead of Osmocote. But good to know that it's OK to put some fertilizer.

Fantastic idea, mad_gallica. I do it with my houseplants when traveling and they look even better when I get back than when I'm at home. :-) It didn't occur to me to do it with these pots outside so thanks for a great tip.

Just an FYI but organics do not work very well in a container situation. These types of fertilizers need to be broken down by soil organisms before they are able to release nutrients to the plants and there are simply insufficient populations of soil organisms present in potting to achieve this conversion. And this conversion takes time to happen properly even if there were the soil biology to accomplish efficiently. So you are essentially wasting the organics and not providing needed nutrients to the plants when they most need it. And bonemeal is a particularly unbalanced organic and will not supply all that the plants need anyway.

You are far better off using the CRF or any water soluble inorganic fertilizer to address plants growing in a container. If you insist on an organic approach, look at fish emulsion or seaweed extract - neither is ideal but should hold the plants well enough until you can get them in the ground.

I don't want to delay their shipment because my concern is that some of them will run out of stock, as it often happened in the past.

Is this common practice with nurseries, that a (paid for) order with a later shipment date, can result in them not fulfilling your order? Seems like an odd way to do business to me.

LaLennoxa, I don't know much about the common practice of mail-order nurseries but it happened to us last year once with bulbs and once with perennials. Both were handled very professionally, refunding my card with apologies and one company even gave us a store credit. It's possible that it's rare but it can happen. I personally don't fault them for it because there are so many variables that go into growing plants and not all can be under full control.

Yes indeed. I just found it interesting, because my response when I first read your dilemma was that the simplest thing would be to have the shipment delayed until closer to when you were ready (July), but then when I re-read your posting, you outlined this wasn't an option due to the potential of them running out of stock. And I can certainly see if you can't depend on your supplier for this, best to take what you can when you can, and run with it. A bird in the hand...

imo.. your best option.. would be to prep.. ASAP.. a nursery bed ... lets say.. 6 feet square ... and heal them in for the summer ... and then move them in the next proper planting season .. which is rarely july/august for many of us ..[z5 is about half the US and wildly divergent.. did you tell us where you are?] ... at least in my MI ... this would be the most bulletproof method ... in my MI.. i would move them in early sept ....

black pots can heat in sun ... so we try for shade on the pots in the heat of the day ... with as much sun on the plant itself as possible ... the issue is that roots like to be cool ... not steaming hot ...

of one season .. i would not mess with much if any fert in pots ... i might use a 50% water sol .. about a month after potting.. after transplant shock .... and thats about it... if you ended up having to winter them over.. the second season in a pot.. i would probably go with more fert ...

most plants like to be moved only to the next sized pot.. and repeatedly repotted.. rather than putting a tiny plant in a giant plant ..

pots need to near dry in between waterings ... long term.. the baby pool idea with standing water may not be a long term solution ... or i misread ...

many good nurseries have a recycle bin.. which is a good cheap way to find pots.. for the right price ... the downside of having a lot of different pot sizes.. is that they dry at different rates ... if all your plants are in the same sized pots.. with the same media.. with the same sized plants ... usually.. when one needs water.. they all do ...

really think about a nursery bed.. with the plants jammed in.. and planting in fall ... it really would be the simplest method ...

ken

BTW: predicting stock levels is very hard .. many nurseries are not giant corporations.. and cant have thousands of plants just in case one out of their inventory is in high demand ... then throw in ..... half of them died over winter.. the vagaries of ma nature.. etc ... and that is why sometimes you cant get what you want.. some peeps feel;. the hunt is more than half the fun .. lol ..

Will also second Osmacote (or any of the Osma family). Used very widely in the nursery trade as a reliable, long tern fertiliser.

Lots of great advice. Gardenweb is really priceless. Thank you all so much!

ken_adrian - Our location is Western NY, close to Ontario, Can. We would raise beds by the 4th of July at the latest but not earlier than mid-June, so the plants would have to wait for 2-3 months only and the 'baby pool' (as mad_gallica aptly names it!) sounds good enough for this limited time period. But the nursery bed as you described it is an excellent idea to keep in mind for the future because we'll do a couple of more raised beds next year. Previous house owners neglected this lovely piece of property and it takes time to put this garden in shape.

Campanula and Gardengal - I have Osmocote and will use it. I use bonemeal (mixed with potash) for my garden plants and it's very educational to learn about its inappropriateness for potted soil. I have the green label version of Osmocote (14-14-14) but please let me know if you have in mind the other pink-labeled version.

what is the release time period on the osmacote ... thats more important that the levels.. imo ...

frankly ... the plants will come super fert'd ... there is no reason you need more.. for the short time frame ...

they are not bog plants .... be careful with standing water in the pool ...

dont make it harder than it should be ....

ken

ken_adrian, the label says up to 4 months. I have this one:

http://www.plantersplace.com/products/osmocote_flower_vegetable

Thank you for your spot-on caution about standing water. I'll be mindful to put only 1-2 inches as mad_gallica advised, which seems to me to be quite right for outdoors, and then refill it as needed.

I raise all my own plants from seed...so many spend a couple of seasons before going into final beds...and I use a range of different methods to keep them alive (mostly - there will be attrition). However, distilled down to one absolutely essential tip - keep them all together. Plants always do better in company - even in single pots. Placing them together regulates the temperature a bit, allows for wider watering spreads and mostly means that your babies are not scattered around the place being left behind, kicked over, sporadically watered. Even though plants have different light requirements, the irritation of keeping seedlings scattered around meant more losses from neglect than any incurred as a result of opting for the lowest common denominator of lighting needs - ie.4- 6 hours of good, but not direct sunlight (depending on time of year) .I choose the western side of my greenhouse - no direct sun as it is in the lee of the house and also avoids the risky early morning sun. Your climate may be hugely different but usually, there is an advantageous spot to pick. A clear northern aspect can also be good. My place is reasonably near the outside tap and has good access (unlike practically everywhere else). While I also use nursery beds, I have been inclined to be far less competent about digging up and transplanting in the shorter time windows, missing my schedule (dormancy, for example) and sometimes having to wait a whole season...while long term containerisation means I can transfer the entire pot at any time of the year without stressing overmuch about root disturbance. However, there are many ways to skin a cat.

Campanula,

It will take me many more years of gardening experience to get courage to grow perennials from seeds. I always admire people who create the whole border with gorgeous flowers just from seeds. I tried and even succeeded with heirloom tomatoes, having two large pots on our back porch but in the end lost the battle with squirrels and chipmunks in the area. Just about when my Cherokee purples would ripen to be picked that week, squirrels would decide to have a nice banquet overnight :-)

Just one clarification, please: when you say to keep them together even in the same pot, can I put two different plants with the same requirements (light, moisture) in the same larger pot until ready to plant? Or do they have to be of the same kind? I find it very interesting.

Yep - each pot becomes a sort of mini garden...although I generally grow mine in individual 4 inch pots (after pricking out) and keep them in larger trays for ease of watering, moving and keeping the pots upright (rampaging collie).. Plants are infinitely adaptable, really want to live and are amenable to being lifted and moved, sometimes numerous times. With gypsophila, for example, I will keep half a dozen in a pot and transplant them in chunks rather than single small plants. If you can grow tomatoes, you can certainly grow other perennials....germination can be tricky and as you accomplished that, the loss was down to misfortune (pesty creatures) rather than incompetence or lack of knowledge. Keep trying - maybe just some cheap and easy annuals. Growing from seed is as easy as any other aspect of gardening - maybe easier in some respects and most perennials need no special treatment apart from an autumn sowing and a chance to germinate and grow with very little input needed from us. - I certainly do not faff about with heat or light although that can be required for some vegetables which need to mature over a longer season than a cold climate will allow. Perennials are actually easier in that many will simply grow in their own time, just as they would in a natural, non gardening setting.

I'll be mindful to put only 1-2 inches as mad_gallica advised,

==>>> that would depend on the pot size ... thats half way up a 4 inch pot... but reasonable for what is called a one gallon pot ...

you HAVE TO OBSERVE and react accordingly .. try to avoid coming to conclusions in the middle of winter.. and then sticking to them without observation ... imo.. no potted plant... short of bog plants.. needs to be standing in water for months ..... you are much more liable to lose stuff from excessive water [thru root rots]... than you are from benign neglect of underwatering ...

let me put it this way ... an underwatered plant will wilt... and if you are checking them every day or 3.. you can water ... and it will perk right back up ...

but if you rot the roots off.... the plant will just look fine.. until it collapses because there are no roots left ...

one of the best greenhouse growers i ever ran across ..; let whole houses wilt.. before he watered them ... best root systems i ever saw ...

if you want to try growing things from seed ... i would guide you back to having a nursery bed ...

ken

Ken, you are making this much, much more complicated than it really is. Here is a simple experiment you can try right now. Take a frying pan, and put about a half an inch of water in it. Put the pan aside. Every day, check to see how much water is in the pan. Does the water disappear? What will happen if you don't put more water in the pan?

Seriously, the only easier, more reliable way I've heard of to water plants is a carefully designed drip system.

Ken made a good point, personally I'd either go with his suggestion of a temporary bed since it sounds like an extended time of waiting to plant in permanent spots or since most mail order plants are 4" size I'd most likely repot them into gallon pots and keep in a half day sun area and water them when dry. Keeping a lot of plants in a non draining container sounds like a good way to possibly kill them unless you commit to being vigilant for several months -- removing the pots, dumping a pool full of stagnant water and then putting pots back in over and over again every time it rains or threatens to rain. I understand the principle of keeping them moist and ease of watering many at once but think of what will happen when it rains.

Unless you're quite good, you're going to lose a lot of perennials trying to hold them till July. I think you should have just not ordered till next fall (for shipment after bed is ready...in fall). But I wish you luck, it's hard to hold things pots through hot weather....the drying...the roots rotting, etc. They just do so much better in teh ground.

Seriously, the only easier, more reliable way I've heard of to water plants is a carefully designed drip system.

===>> OP is a novice.. i killed more plants with too much love.. water.. than i ever did with benign neglect..lack of water ....

the simplest method... either stick them in mother earth ... wherever.. ...... or put in bigger pots.. and dont drown them ...

what barron said ...

its not whether you or i are right .. its about OPs [original poster] need to coddle them to death ...

no plant needs to sit in a tub of water for 3 or 4 months ....

we have named and discussed the variables.. its up to OP ... to figure it out.. with her media..in her pots .... in her yard.. in her zone ... in her ambient weather.. how to figure it all out...

or just shove them in mother earth.. and let ma.. take care of it.. with a little extra water.. when needed ...

ken

Thank you all. There is so much to learn from your posts. For years I was a casual gardener in a much different zone (Texas) but have been intensively gardening in the last 3 years ever since we bought this house with an ideal space for gardening though now in zone 5/6. I think i'll always consider myself a beginner and cannot praise enough this forum for giving us the opportunity to learn from the expertise and experience of so many of you.

You gave me a lot to think about and I might actually do it both ways. Those more moisture-loving plants (and there will be a few because some areas in the backyard are quite wet) to keep in a baby pool with minimal water and in something that can be moved easily if it rains. But to also make a smaller impromptu nursery bed in the ground for the rest of the plants. I think it will be doable both ways. And I'll report back! Many thanks.

"Unless you're quite good, you're going to lose a lot of perennials trying to hold them till July. I think you should have just not ordered till next fall (for shipment after bed is ready..."

I'm not sure this is necessarily true. It IS harder to maintain plants in containers through the summer months but it is certainly doable - nurseries manage to do it quite well. And how many of us here have the infamous pot ghettos; those collections of potted plants we have acquired from friends, plant sales, the bargain rack, etc. that are just hanging out waiting to find their forever homes in our gardens?? And I garden almost entirely in containers and have seldom lost anything, whether through the heat of summer or the cold of winter. It just requires diligent attention :-)

And the OP explained why they preferred NOT to wait for the plants to be received at a more opportune time - they were concerned abut their selections being sold out or no longer available.

To add another 2 cents: someone pointed out to use good, high quality potting soil.

those bagged mixes are IME often either peat based or contain other organic matter.

if you pott them up in such a soilless potting mix, I would expect them to have trouble adapting after planting in the original, nativ soil. Garden soil contains plus minus 5-8% organic matter, so the root balls often dry out when sitting in sandy or clay-ish soil as the peaty rootball dries out faster or re-wets badly. Some kind of holding bed or even roghly covering the rootballs in garden soil, building a mound in a way, seems IMO more successfull in the long run. In a sheltered spot, preferably with no sun around noon.

well, good luck anyway, and dont forget to label