i am in MI .. they can be planted ... you did not answer where you are .... regardless of how rare you think these are.. they are near impossible to kill IF properly handled ... it doesnt matter whether you plant them or pot them.. they are fully hardy in z5 ... and the ground freeze or frost line.. nor anything will bother them.. IF properly planted ... potting requires a proper media... something quick would be a cactus mix ... wet it properly.... then pot the up.. and put them on the north side of the house ... DO NOT USE NATIVE DIRT no sun on those pots for all winter .... once the ground freezes.. tip them on the side.. so water doenst accumulate ... wont matter if they are covered with snow .. your only concern would be vermin.. like mice nibbling on them ... who sent them in the wrong season??? .. michigan bulb???? to explain how hardy they are.. i got 6 foot sticks ... bare!!! [no branches] .. in a one gal pot.. in a plastic bag from BIGLOT one spring .... and 10 years later they are 30 feet tall ... if a 6 foot tree can live in a one gal pot.. and live... yours should be near bullet proof.. unless you try to love them to death.. i would also call the seller.. and ask them to make a note that it is a bit late for shipping .. and if they do not bud out in spring.. you will be calling on the warranty .... in MI they are a late budding tree .... so dont get wound up until may or so ... GOOD LUCK!!!!! ken

I also live in zone 8 - our first frost dates are usually mid/late November. I use both methods - I pot when I dont have beds ready for the daylilies. This year, I have raised beds filled with great soil - I buy it mixed, its a combo of mushroom compost, bark fines and sand. The lilies love it, take off and are growing just great. I have learned from experience not to plant them too deep - I have lost them when I planted too deep. I also grow roses and have found that most plants really grow better when planted in the ground. I seem to buy plants faster than I can build beds, so by necessity, I have a good sized pot ghetto. But I steadily work on building beds as I really think they grow better planted in the ground. If you have the readymade beds with good soil - I would suggest planting them there - just be careful not to plant too deeply.

the ONLY dumb question.. IS THE QUESTION UNASKED .... we are here to disabuse you of your ignorance.. as an old professor used to tell me. .. easy lesson ... soil ='s mother earth ..... dirt ='s what is on your hands and carpet .... after you have been in the garden .. playing in soil .. or mother earth ... medium is what is used in pots ... you will do much better in pots.. if you avoid soil ... medium is ENGINEERED for use in pots.. it is designed to hold and shed the appropriate amount of water for what is planted in it .... it is usually a mixture of peat, perlite [little white volcanic rocks] and vermiculite ... and a few other things depending on the plant going into it [e.g. pieces of bark in conifer pots] peat holds water .... a lot of water.. good for hosta ... perlite takes up space and holds little water.. but improves drainage .. like the bark ... it helps increase air pockets which allow excess water to shed out the bottom vermiculite is somewhere in between ... changing the %'ages of them.. can make widely divergent medium ... if we go on the premise the you try to drown a hosta.. you want a lot of peat .... but all plants like air in their roots.. so we mix some of the other stuff .. named brands are promix... sunshine.. etc ... any time you go to a nursery .. ask them what they use... and you will have a good tutorial on what they might use for differing plants ... being a hardcore gardener.. i learned long ago ... buy the biggest BALE you can .. and a spare plastic garbage can .... dump it all in dry ... take what you need.. and the rest will sit for decades .. while you use it up ... much cheaper by the bale.. if you can afford the upfront cost ... wetting medium is necessary ahead of time ... maybe 1.5 gals of dry will make 1 gallon pot of wetted ... properly wetted stuff should pack like a snowball .. but crumble .. but not a slushy snowball ... peat can actually float on water ... and i have found hot water wicks into super dry peat faster ... but we wouldnt put a plant into hot medium ... does that cover it ... ken

It would definitely be safe to leave out the cumin. I think it would be safe to leave out the green peppers too. You're changing the density, but it should be less dense with the extra liquid vs. solids, so it should be a little safer, not less safe. And of course you are reducing the low-acid ingredients which helps acidity. Finally, it's not a huge amount of green peppers compared to the overall recipe yield, so it's not a major difference. I noticed you didn't mention the vinegar. You can't leave that out! And I would want to get Linda Lou's opinion on upping the cilantro (Annie's recipe is something like 1/4 cup cilantro with 8 cups tomatoes, isn't it?). I've never read anything about substituting herbs for vegetables. Based on acid I guess it would be ok but since their texture is different and peppers seem to have a higher water content, who knows. Have you canned Annie's salsa before? The cilantro flavor fades a bit once it's cooked and canned, so you might prefer to freeze some cubes of cilantro (in water or oil) and then mix them into the jars after you open them. You can freeze it in an ice cube tray and put the cubes in plastic bags. So let's have our Master Food Preserver Linda Lou chime in. Give her a few days to notice this thread, I'm sure she is canning up a storm and answering lots of questions at the extension office! Glad you found a recipe you like. Melissa