I had somewhat of an experiment in my garden this spring, I ordered several bare roots in early April ( very late for zone 7 bare root planting), some of them went in the ground as soon as I got them, and a couple (the saddest looking 2 of the bunch) went into pots that are sitting on my porch, which gets some morning/early afternoon sun, but not tons. All of the plants are doing pretty well, one of the few I put in the ground seemed to struggle during the hottest weeks in early may, but it recovered. However, the sad little plants that I put in containers on the semi shaded porch are now over twice the size of the ones in the ground, even though I had been watering the ones in the ground like there is no tomorrow, and watering the ones in pots maybe less than half that amount. What I gather from this is that if you plant bare roots late in the season, do it in containers, and keep those containers in a part sun area for at least a few months, putting them directly in the ground may be a mistake at this point because they don't have established roots and can't absorb enough water to really prosper in the summer heat. I would say even if you do it in April, (even though you are north of me), you will have to water them pretty much daily for them to have a chance to be successful. I would say your true bare root planting season is probably late February or March, if you go by the recommendations of most propel here, I think you would be safe if you got them and put them in pots and maybe put them in the ground in the fall, after the weather cools a little bit. Jessica

It's better planted outside than inside for sure even at this late date. I don't know where you are so I don't know when your first frost date is but in my zone 6 it's usually not until mid October or later. That would give it a good 6 weeks to get established and I think you'd be OK. Dig a big deep hole. You want to plant it a little deeper than it is in the pot now. When you take it out of the pot try to keep the root ball intact as much as possible. The less you disturb the roots the better. After it goes completely dormant you can winter protect it by either mounding up with soil around the plant or with some kind of mulch. Leaves will work fine. Since it's a mini you can pretty much bury it in leaves but put a stake there so you'll know where it is come spring. And if you get a lot of snow it's OK to pile it on. Snow is a very good insulator and will protect and hydrate the rose all winter. In the spring when the ground thaws and night time temps stay consistently above freezing (that's April here but may be different for you) you can start to uncover it gradually. Once you start to see some new growth uncover it completely. Prune off any dead wood and she should give you a summer of lovely blooms!

So you want one of my ÂLuciferÂsÂ, huh, High? How about planning a day trip down to the big city on September 8th? >>hint - hintItÂs too hot to even think about sending one out your way right now, but if youÂre still interested when the weather cools, you can send me more stamps and IÂll get one out to you! But itÂll be little! The swap ones are too! There really arenÂt very many red hardy perennials, but hereÂs a couple more you might consider. Lychnis chalcedonica http://www.robsplants.com/plants/LychnChalc.php Geum ÂMrs. Bradshaw http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?invocationType=imageDetails&query=geum+chiloense&img=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.naturehills.com%2Fproduct_images%2Fthumbnails%2Fmrs_bradshaw_geum.jpg&site=&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.garden-helper.com%2FShop%2Fperennials.asp&width=96&height=96&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-partners-tbn.google.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AGPSHjdz2Y6YjKM%3Awww.naturehills.com%2Fproduct_images%2Fthumbnails%2Fmrs_bradshaw_geum.jpg&b=image%3FinvocationType%3Dtopsearchbox.image%26query%3Dgeum%2Bchiloense http://www.peoriagardens.com/images/perennials/GeumMrsBradshaw.jpg I wouldnÂt have even thot of the Geum, except I started some Lychnis from (store bought) seed this spring, and the leaves sure do look like Geum leaves to me! I hope itÂs at least the red Geum, rather than the yellow, but IÂll just have to wait till next year when it blooms to see what IÂve actually got! IÂm waiting for the ÂLucifer to open a little bit more, and then IÂll take another picture and post it. It is absolutely one of the most striking perennials IÂve ever seen. This is the first year itÂs really looked goodÂlike so many of my other things. Last year it was so infested with mites that it never bloomed at allÂso itÂs been a LONG wait. This year itÂs been fed a steady diet of systemic insecticide. I was NOT gonna go another year with no flowers! I havenÂt tried the milk yet! So far the baking soda with DW soap if working pretty well. IÂll post on the other thread when I do try the milk. IÂm really curious myself. How are you doing out there in dirt  ÂSilt? None of the fires are too close to you, are they? Hope all is well, Skybird

alright I took your advice to stop watering and I brought them inside and I had a light on them at first but that only lasted about a week. I have not removed the soft stems (i was afraid to touch them!) But they seem to have survived! They have a few small buds growing from the base! Thank you for your advice. I would have probably killed them by over watering, think I was doing good for them. That is probably why my gardenias have died I try to revive them by watering too much! Thanks again