If your ground drains they will not rot. It is constant wet which leads to rot.. Not brief dowsing. And even if they did rot that doesn't mean your yard is infected. Once it dries out that's an end to it. I think you're getting confused with things like honeyfungus. Dormant plants can't avoid getting rained on. They're built for it, unless you're growing species from dry climates.

It drains but that doesn't mean its not moist/wet. The ground is moist pretty much 24/7. And then on top of that when another round of rain comes on it, doesn't that equal constant wetness?

PS: For some reason I never get a notification whenever you reply to my posts

So what you are saying is I really should get my hardy potted plants out of the house before Friday? OK, I was planning on putting them out tomorrow.

Since what you are talking about falls under the general category of Life in the Northeast, no big. As Floral said, if you are trying to grow desert plants, panic all you want. However, plants from anywhere it rains are already used to such things. Many of them come pre-adapted to being underwater when the spring melt occurs and the ground is still frozen underneath.

GET RID OF THE TARP!!!!!

LOL!! If wet soils in winter were an issue like you imagine, absolutely nothing would be growing in the PNW!!

As has been stated, if your soil drains well, all will be fine. And you really do need to get back to those hort classes ASAP :-) Won't your current employer support you in taking some daytime courses? It will only be a bonus for you in performing your job........

You're worrying for nothing. The plants will be fine. No need to stress out over rain and snow here. It's very normal to be wet this time of year here. We call it the mud season.

Plants come and go. If you lose one, it's normal. Replace it with something else. Time to shop!

Relax. The rain is good for the plants.

Phew this makes me feel much better. I guess I worry too much. But haven't you guys heard of 'wet winter soils can be fatal'. I see that in the cultivation description for many plants. I'll point out many examples:

I heard iris ensata can grow in shallow water during the growing season but wet winter soil can be fatal. Lazyssfarm also states for Chrysanthemum pacificums 'no winter wet soil please'. Then I also heard lycoris radiata needs to be dry during the summer dormant season. Then a nursery specializing in arisaema tells me directly(over the phone) that arisaema mayebarai should stay completely dry in winter and cover it with a plate if you can. Then I also heard of people crying over how their musa basjoos rotted in the winter...

All these things made me worry that dormant plants should have minimal moisture or else they will rot. Especially when a water growing plant such as an iris ensata can't even handle winter wetness!

Good call gardengal.. I never thought of the idea of attending classes during worktime. I will ask HR tomorrow to see if the company allows that

All of the above mentioned plants grow perfectly well here with our wet winter soils. Truly, it is not the rainfall that is of concern but how well the soil drains. As long as the water doesn't puddle or form pools for more than an hour or two after the rain stops or when you dig a small hole, it doesn't immediately fill with water, you should be fine.

"that arisaema mayebarai should stay completely dry in winter and cover it with a plate if you can."

That's taking things to extremes :-) I never did when I grew arisaemas and I don't know anyone else in my area that does. And my local aroid guru makes no mention of it. Again, no more fussy about soil conditions than any other arisaema.......moist but well drained.

Heruga, in some cases the company will actually pay towards tuition if it is a job related course of study. Which yours certainly is!! At the very least, they should encourage you to attend classes and allow sometime to do so. The more you know, the better able you will be to do your job :-)

Alright I won't worry about the rain anymore unless it rains for 7 days in a row or more :) Although the arisaema grower did tell me that particular arisaema(and ringens) is more susceptible to root rot than most other arisaemas.

My company reimburses everyone for courses if it is related to the job field. I got reimbursed 75%(thats how much the company is willing to pay) for my first class. I just don't know whether they will allow me to take classes during work hours

Maybe just one or two afternoons a week??

If there are particular plants that you really want to grow that are intolerant of winter wet (for instance, I really like the western, dryland Agastaches), plant them on a mound of soil or a slope so that water drains away. But as others have said, most plants will grow just fine if planted in somewhat similar conditions to their native settings.

I'd do two but I doubt my boss will allow that. He cares more about us doing work for him like a slave rather than our careers. He is that type of person.

Soo would sedums be considered intolerant of wet winter? Since they are succulents. My sedum erythrostictum 'frosty morn' has already emerged an inch from the ground so its not dormant

My sedums all do fine in the NE US except for the purple ones that the voles ate, and that wasn't a moisture issue. Because my soil freezes, drainage is impaired for at least two weeks every spring, and the sedums are fine, even in years when everything is inundated by rain melting several feet of snow on top of frozen ground.

Relax. They're just plants. They should be fine but if they're not - you replace them. Good advice above; it's the lack of drainage that causes the issue, not the actual amount of rain-/snowfall. What helped me a lot when I was starting out was picking up some really good gardening books; I don't think people learn anything in-depth by reading snippets here and there on the 'net/webpages. Sitting down with good perennial (and other) gardening books, maybe subscribing to a gardening magazine or two can increase your knowledge immensely.

Hey Heruga, got snow today?

Yup, 2 feet expected here. Im sick and tired of this winter weather already, we're in March for God sakes! It should be warming up!

Still tired of winter weather...in winter? :-)

Oh gosh, some of the most treacherous weather can happen around here in March and into April ---> ICE STORMS.

What's that old saying? March roars in like a lion, out like a lamb... Last year we had a historic wind storm in early March. No, we're not done yet -- although I certainly understand being sick and tired of it! I have a long commute and it is NOT FUN on snow/ice days. You guys are getting hammered again on the East Coast, aren't you?

At least here so far ithe storm hasn't been as bad as predicted, starting later than expected and with warmer temperatures, so right now we have about 7" of heavy wet snow with a smaller amount of snow still expected for a few hours. Since the prediction was for as much as 14" we are OK, especially since almost everything has been canceled for this morning or for the whole day. I am hoping that we keep our power, but the power companies are ready since I passed a bunch of trucks from out-of-state companies headed north yesterday. Living where I do, this is not unusual for this time of year so most folks take it in stride, despite the alarmist weather folks, and have backup heat and a generator at least to share with neighbors.

One nice aspect of late winter storms is that warm soil will drain well and warm daytime temperatures will melt it relatively quickly, so worries about mud and drainage for gardens isn't much of an issue. When we have frozen ground and a good melt, we have " mud season" which can last for a couple weeks and can mire a vehicle in the middle of some of our dirt roads if it gets really bad.