Where did you order from? No quality nursery would do that.

i would put the seller on notice .. and perhaps ask them to resend at the appropriate time ...

ken

Of course, here, this would be much to be desired to ship just emerging perennials at this time. I get frustrated that I can't get some things till almost May, when it's getting hot and harder to transplant things succesfully.

I can see confusion sometimes on shipping times on behalf of the nurseries juggling lots of orders.

They did ship some 10 days before their earliest posted shipping date for my zone -- which is still rather early I think. They do honor their guarantees, so if any don't survive there will be a refund or replacement.

On the other had, getting them early probably means I might have gotten some of the healthier ones, instead of the dregs that I usually buy on clearance...

Thanks for the advice. Going out to get some potting soil now!

Is the ground diggable? If they are dormant I don't understand why they can't be planted now.

It is thawed, but late winter tends to be very wet so I worry that the roots will rot before they establish.

I would not plant them in the ground now. We may have a warm spell but it is to iffy what we will get next. I do start my dahlias early inside so I get blooms early late March to early April. I hate that they do not start to bloom until almost Fall.

Here in the UK we have a chain of Wilko stores. They have Perennials out on display in mid-January; Dahlias, Dicentra, Lillies etc. We try to keep them in the coldest room indoors (the shed is not frost-proof) for as long as possible, but the Dicentra's are already sprouting when we buy them. The packet says 'plant from March to June' but, within that time, they can start to rot before they even get into the ground. We start the Dicentra and Lillies off in pots outdoors. As for the Dahlias, one has sprouted in the pack already, but it's far too wet to plant it in the open ground. Again, pots protected against excessive rain would be the best option.

All except the Dahlias are very hardy perennials. How cold is it likely to get if there is a cold snap? All of them can take freezing temperatures when dormant.

They are cold hardy if they have roots. I am not familiar with the weather pattern of the original post but in my zone 6 today we are raining 50 but by the weekend we will be in the teens and snow. When we have these soaking wet events followed by freezing temps the poor plants do not have a chance sitting in a frozen block of ice with little to not roots.

We really don't have enough information to say much of anything. Except for the tender dahlias, last frost date is a non-sequitur. We don't know when perennials are normally planted in wherever this is, to have an idea how long they have to be kept potted, if they even need to be kept potted.

Last frost date is indeed merely an indication of when the dahlias may go outside -- but marquest and mark_jw, although in far differing climates, have pinpointed the problem. I am quite sure they will die if I put them in the ground now, and although they may hold in the shipping packaging for a week or 2, it seems risky to me. Marquest, I am in central OH so perhaps very similar to you.

I potted them up over the weekend. Thanks for all of your input.

raee, we are close weather wise You are doing the right thing. Good luck.