With what you get from MI Bulb, you will need to grow in a pot for a season before planting in the ground in early fall. There is a reasonable chance that you will need to protect them from deer both when they are small and when they grow.

Based on my experience with MI Bulbs close to 40 years ago, they may or may not survive, not due to your care, but due to the quality of the plant material this company supplies. Before buying plants it is useful to check the reputation of the nursery on Garden Watchdog. Here's the link for Michigan Bulb with more negatives than positives.

This isn't intended as a criticism of you, just sharing info to hopefully help you avoid sending your money to companies like Michigan Bulb.

I would also add to Babs comments that the labeling from MI Bulb is always suspect. They often just make up names or assign cultivar names that may be close but still inaccurate. Who knows exactly what it may be that you got??

btw, there is no cultivar registered as 'Live Forever Red' but there is a 'Forever and Ever Red' hydrangea.......see what I mean about but close but still inaccurate? And I would also take the notion of "red" with a large grain of salt - at best "red" hydrangeas are a deep, dark purplish or cherry pink but seldom ever a true scarlet or red-red.

The Live Forever Red was Zulily's name for it. Michigan Bulb has it as Glowing Embers. I've bought from Bluestone Perennials a couple of times, but mostly from Springhill Nursery when I buy online. I did notice last year only 3 of my buttercup/ranunculus from Michigan Bulb Co. came up. I am tempted to see if I can cancel that part of my order now. Thanks for the link NHBabs.

I'm not sure why you would assume it is Glowing Embers just because that is listed by MI Bulbs - the organization enters into various marketing partnerships to sell stock that is not offered directly by them and the name changes are typically to contravene patent/trademark issues. A bit of an ethical dilemma to go along with all the other negative feedback this mail order source generates. FWIW, Springhill is not rated much better.

IMO, if a mail order source cannot supply the correct botanical and/or registered name of a plant so that you can directly research what you are getting through other, established sources, and honor any trademark or patent rights, then it is not a place you should be doing business with.

One way to get recommendations of nurseries that other gardeners like would be to ask on the appropriate forum. For instance since you mentioned Bluestone, I have had good luck with their hydrangeas, though they will be small.

Here's a thread from just a couple weeks ago asking about good mail order sources for hydrangeas.

For good sources of perennials, you can ask on the Perennials Forum.

Or you can visit the top-rated nurseries on Garden Watchdog. IME it's worth paying a bit more if the plants are well-grown since they survive and you can end up paying similar amounts for one well-grown plant or three poorly grown of which only one survives.

I'm assuming that because they have the same photo on Zulily and Michigan Bulb Company for their listings using those names and Zulily does tend to get creative with names for things in their sales so we'll see I guess.

Well, here's what showed up yesterday. Let's hope they survive. I'm doubtful of the one on the right with the pile of leaves in the box and how's it's looking. We're having a day near 60 today so I put them outside for some sun and water. They're a lot smaller than I expected.

Well, I tried; they're now sticks in pots. I e-mailed Zulily requesting a refund. I think I'm done with both Zulily and Michigan Bulb Co. both as I've had several issues with items ordered from Zulily recently.