Autumn is a great time to plant perennials for next year. I'm thinking go ahead and probably won't need to do anything special.

Does rosemary really overwinter for you? I've never, ever been able to overwinter it, even here now nearly zone 6B, and in very well draining soil. As for the others, fall is a great time to plant, divide, and transplant. And it's still much too early for bulbs.

What laceyvail said. Rosemary is one of my favourite herbs and I've learned I can just grow it for the season and harvest it at the end for dried. Wish it were otherwise! Otherwise, jump on the opportunity to do your bed(s) in fall, a great time to plant!

Rosemary does not overwinter everywhere in my yard, but I've had some success with other plants that are supposed to be a bit too tender here as long as I take the time to mulch them in good in the fall. And I've had a pot of prone rosemary survive over one winter when it mistakenly got stuck into an outdoor plant box instead of being brought in. This particular bed area might be able to overwinter rosemary, it's in a good niche. And if the rosemary dies there, I'll plant in something else next year. I keep a couple "mother pots" for the kitchen garden that get brought inside overwinter, as well as take a series of cuttings to grow overwinter inside every year.. just in case.

This year I happen to have extra rosemary because my sister said she wanted me to start enough plants for her to have a small hedgerow of the stuff, and never did a hegerow because she then found out how rosemary does not overwinter in her zone 5, and now I got a dozen too many pots of the stuff since she only claimed a couple pots for her porch to bring inside overwinter. I plan on tossing a couple of them into an outdoor plant box, and a couple more into my makeshift greenhouse/cold frame setup to see how they do in those conditions. I like having a couple pots inside overwinter to eat off of, but if I can keep the majority of it outside, and even better find the couple sweet spots in my yard where it will establish.. I'll keep trying, lol.

I'm glad to know I can still put in plants yet. I know bulbs aren't for a while, but I was hoping to put in plants and bulbs this fall, and not just the bulbs this fall and the plants in the spring. I don't know why, but doing bulbs first seems kind of backwards to me, I like to do plants first and bulbs as sort of the finishing detail when I can.

Good question Ken. I assume the ground freezes around here, don't know how deep it goes. I don't really do any winter digging around here. I do have a spot in my yard that non-hardy glads grow, so I assume it does not freeze deep under the mulch there. My lemon thyme lives in that spot too, though lemon thyme is supposed to not overwinter here.

For my area, fall is the most excellent time to plant perennials. One thing I will note, is it's important (here) to keep them watered. A dry warm fall and winter can kill them quite easily. Even once the foliage is done, one must consider available moisture and maybe water a little. It's been a wet year and the rain only stopped a few weeks ago, and now my soil (I was planting some colchicum yesterday) is like super dry dust.

I've always planted shrubs and perennials in the fall with great success; I've even planted into early November without problems, although I know many will squawk at that. The key is to keep moist but not overly moist, and mulch. The roots will keep growing even if air temperatures are super-cold.

And it's still much too early for bulbs.

'lacey', I bet I have brought this up before but only a couple of things are holding me back from planting spring flowering bulbs in the summer ie availability and time. It is convenient knowing exactly where all the perennials are located before squeezing in some bulbs. Anyways, I did pick up lots of bulbs last week and some in August (many based on good reviews and pics I saw on this forum this past spring). I will plant some of them as soon as I finish planting perennials I have recently bought.

Well, I see suppliers saying that the bulbs need seasoning time before shipping/availability, but I don't really understand it.

The bulbs would have been in ground anyway, so why is seasoning out of the ground necessary ?

The bulbs would have been in ground anyway, so why is seasoning out of the ground necessary ?

My thoughts exactly.

I like to get narcissus in as early as possible -early September if possible - although there is usually a large gap between theory and practice. They will benefit from the soil warmth and make good root growth immediately...unlike tulips, say, which simply sit there until the soil cools down enough to initiate root growth. Some lilies like an early planting too

Well, I see suppliers saying that the bulbs need seasoning time before shipping/availability, but I don't really understand it.

What, are they steak?

Get those bulbs in the ground!

Seasoning time for bulbs is like onions and garlic- you can eat onions and garlic right out of the ground, but if you want to store or ship it, you need to let it cure a bit first.

Bulbs are like that too. If you plan on transplanting them quickly, you can pull them and use them fresh. But if you want to hold them for replanting later, you need to give them time to season and really go on hiatus before storing them. I've moved around daffodils, crocuses, and hyacinths no problem without seasoning if I do it directly.

I also don't treat bulbs like a lot of folk do. When I get a package, I pot them up and grow them out for a year first before putting them into garden spots. After their blooming time is done, I empty out the pot and let the bulbs season till it's planting time in the garden later that year. It takes a year of patience, but most pots divide a lot, so I end up buying half the bulbs I would otherwise.

Anyway.. I came to give an update. I planted in the first bed with plants, and the second bed will be finished by the end of the weekend. I haven't done any bulbs yet, because I figure I'll do all those at once when I'm doing other bulbs in the yard.

Just finished planting 50 "Snowdrops" (the double flowers) this morning. (I was impressed with pictures that many of you posted early this past spring).