James, I have no issues with the heat because they grow inside my house. I never put them outside, even for a couple of minutes. I grow them in a spare room that has a large window that gets early morning sun. I also have them under cheap grow lights that clip onto something that's near the plants. The grow lights take an ordinary grow bulb or you can use those long square grow light bulbs. Either type will work and the total cost is really cheap. Ever since I found out about the water my plants are growing fast. I use only organic fert. since the other types of fert. can burn the roots. The organic can not burn the roots. A guy that I purchase miltoniopsis plants from told me that since most tap water is purified to get rid of bacteria and other things most tap water contains chlorine and chorline burns the delicate roots. I never thought about this before and since I found out about chlorine being in most tap water, this makes sense plus you can smell the faint odor of chlorine in the tap water. I can't tolerate the heat so I stay inside and I set my thermostat at 70 degrees. If I'm happy with the temps. the plants are probably happy too. I almost forgot one important issue. I have a humidifier working 24 hours. It's a real cheap humidifier that I purchased off of Etsy. The humidifier looks like a fat white stick. I stick it in an old plastic water jug and you can see the mist coming out. Apparently it works real well. I can't tell you the brand because it came in a company box and everything is in Chinese including the instructions. I think that the humidifier cost me around five bucks. My set up is cheap but I haven't killed any plants. I currently have about seven plants putting out spikes. I have about twenty plants and I don't want anymore. I'll probably get another one only if the flower color appeals to me or if it's a cross that I don't have.

It's wonderful to hear from someone who has acquired a new garden and isn't planning to sod over it - that's a fear we all share when we think about the eventuality of selling our homes. So, welcome to Garden Web - this is a great resource for gardeners; please come visit the New England forum as well. I agree with the recommendation above, the DiSabato-Aust book is a good one, really comprehensive although sometimes a little overwhelming. You should remember that you don't really need to do everything perfectly in order to have a nice garden; I tend to forget that when I read that sort of book. Leaving your perennials standing over winter is mostly a matter of taste; the exceptions are that subshrubs (like your perovskia, lavender, and most herbs) *need* to be left and should not be cut back below the place where new foliage emerges in spring and, at the opposite extreme, plants like peony and phlox, which tend to have problems with fungus, mold, or viruses, should be cut back as soon as the leaves turn brown in fall. Missing a few that should be cut back is not a big deal, next summer you'll get to know these more and the worst that can happen is you'll have some imperfect foliage. Cutting back your subshrubs too early or too severely might mean that you have to replace some plants. Aside from reading up on perennials this winter, consider starting a map of your garden. You can begin by taking measurements and plotting up the beds on graph paper (4 square per inch is best). As you learn the plants that are growing, and as you become more addicted to gardening, you'll be able to use these maps to plan additions and replacements. Congratulations on your new garden - hope you keep us posted as you learn more about what's growing there.

York_rose, I knew when I bought the 3 Salvia greggii Heatwave that they wouldn't make it in mailbox bed with winter snow from street but was going to try them further back where bed is very raised. I also knew intellectually that they were a long shot but my heart took over. If they bloom this year and I get to see some pretty color and flying beauties around them it'll be worth it. I can always try keeping them in pots since they're on the small side and overwinter either heeled in or in pot ghetto with bagged leaves all around. As far as the Daffodil foliage it would have to be the deer eating it as there weren't other critters out and about all winter. The deer hoof marks were also a sign it was them. Some foliage came up very prematurely last summer and they started in on it then and continued through winter. During a warm winter spell I sowed Larkspur seed under open top half of clear bottles (so seeds wouldn't float away or get eaten) and deer plucked up bottles and chewed them to hell. Of course those seeds & bottles were right in front of the yews they eat. A very long stretch of temporary 3-4' green rabbit fencing is going up this weekend around entire front garden and all the way around to side rose garden area. I have to give plants time to grow much less bloom. I'm starting Salvia rupestris from seed indoors figuring if it doesn't survive winter or dies to the ground it's a more realistic goal since I can sow each year. I might get a small pot of blue salvia that's annual here just for the blooms and pollinator attraction. agardenstateof_mind, I think I saw you post somewhere that you work at Deep Cut Park which is just up the road from my father's place. I've passed it many times during detours around construction on Middletown-Lincroft Rd. and as alternate to Rt. 35 north when I'm making a northward gardening swing to Home Depot, Lowes & Dearborn Farms. Dearborn Farms is expensive but they sometimes have things I can't find anywhere else locally. I need to get up there very soon to get Dot Pots for germinating some seeds. People at Breck's and other local places look at me like I have 2 heads when I ask for something that's not "Jiffy" although tons of people have great success with them. I too peeked under the mulch on all the perennials yesterday and this morning...without stepping into the beds. Most have tiny fresh growth at crown but I'm not touching anything for a couple weeks until I have to plant some Campanula I have buried in pots. Thought I read in the Press that you have some fencing to keep out deer and protect some of your gardens at Deep Cut. I'm jealous. :) Although it takes a lot of time to hand water in August-early Sept. I tend to see only the glorious blooms all around and momentarily forget about what died or was eaten. I've also ordered spring blooming bulbs by then so have something to look forward to in Fall...the mad dash to get them all in the ground before it's too late...LOL. Feeling hopeful today and will have to be satisfied with outdoor work of collecting downed branches & leaves, cutting up some downed trees and carting them closer to the street for pick-up in April. At least I'll be outside and get some exercise.

bpeterson, that root is still several years away from flowering, sorry. If you live in a fairly warm zone a peony might make it through the winter in a pot, think the warmest I've seen people post about potted peonies has been zone 6. If you want to try it I'd replant and just leave it alone, pulling it out of the soil breaks off the little hairlike roots and sets it back further. Like Nancy said peonies are pretty hard to grow in pots, I'd experiment with your root by replanting it in a large pot just so it doesn't have to be moved if it survives since it'll get quite large. If it comes back and increases you might want to double pot it to insulate the roots from summer heat. By this I mean plant it in one of the black nursery pots then put that pot inside a bigger ceramic or similar pot big enough so the sides don't touch. You can put moss or some biodegradable mulch over the soil if you don't want to see the ugly pot but keep it away from the stems--mulch that stays wet could cause rot damage to it. Make sure to water only when it's dry at least down an inch or so--too much water is just as dangerous as too little so make sure your pot(s) drain well. Peonies want full sun but the roots will get overheated quickly in a pot, if you can shade the pot somehow while allowing the growth to get sun that would be your best bet. If you can keep this one alive and it prospers I'd think I'd reward myself by purchasing a 2nd one from a nursery that already has buds so you can have blooms next spring. If you wait for the one you have to bloom I think it'd be at least 3-4 years, sorry.