User avatar
Franco
Senior Member
Posts: 299
Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 9:21 pm
Location: New Jersey

Plant now or wait until spring

*** Editing this post because I found the same question after searching, however I have another question to follow. Instead of digging up the perennials and over wintering them inside, can I just put a thick layer of mulch or something on top of them?


I just bought a good amount of perennials that were on sale at the store. I was wondering if I would be safe planting the bulbs now in mid-August, in north east NJ (Zone 6 I think), or if I should wait to plant them in the fall/spring. I know some perennials need to go in during autumn and others in spring but I don't know which ones specifically. Will they be viable if I wait until next year to plant them?

The list is as follows:
Lilly of the Valley
Anemone
Freesia
Ixia
Aquilegia
Dutch Iris
Rudbeckia
Peony
Dahlia
-Firebird
-Arabian Night
-Rosella
Gladiolus

Thanks for the advice :)

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Things that are not cold hardy in your area need to be stored indoors.

Glads- cold hardy only to zone 7 (I think you are probably zone 6, so not cold hardy for you). Store indoors, plant in spring after last frost date.

Rosella - is not perennial, it is an annual even though it gets to be shrub sized. Plant in spring after last frost date.

I don't know of something called Arabian Night or Firebird. They sound like variety names of something.

Dahlias - Cold hardy only to zone 8. Store indoors, plant in spring after last frost AND soil has warmed up a bit, say when you would plant peppers.

Peony - IS cold hardy, down to zone 4 so definitely where you are. You should be able to plant them in the early fall, so they have some time to get established before severe cold sets in.

Rudbeckia (black-eyed susan). They are cold hardy. They are often started from seed. If you are planting seed, it should be in early spring. If you are planting transplants, it could be in early fall.

Dutch iris - cold hardy in zone 6. Plant in fall.

Aquilegia (columbine) - extremely cold hardy. As with black eyed susan, plant seeds in spring or transplants in fall.

Ixia & anemone - should be cold hardy for you if well mulched for winter. Plant in spring.

Freesia - Only cold hardy to zone 9. Store indoors, plant in spring after the soil has warmed up.

This is a lot of flowers, I hope you have a lot of flower bed space. And note, it is a mixed bag as far as requirements for sun, water, soil type, etc. For example, [Edit - MANY] perennials do well with slightly acid soil, but the columbines prefer slightly alkaline and freesias like significantly acid soil.

For best results you should look up the requirements of each one you plant and try to group together ones with similar requirements.

best wishes with what sounds like a major project
Last edited by rainbowgardener on Sun Aug 17, 2014 6:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Franco
Senior Member
Posts: 299
Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 9:21 pm
Location: New Jersey

Wow, I wish I could give you something in return for your awesome help. I'm definitely bookmarking this page for future reference. I didn't even think about pH. From my experience, columbine are pretty strong - I have a few in another bed containing the same medium so I'm not going to worry about that.

It is a decent sized project, I should post pictures of what I'm doing, I'm pretty excited about it and would love advice and suggestions from the community.

roseycheeks
Green Thumb
Posts: 421
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 10:51 pm
Location: Lakeview, Ohio zone6

I have several flower seeds and am anxious to try some out, the first one that I have planted is two pots of Coleus, they have germinated already and are growing slowly but they are growing. The next thing I have planted, I have never planted vegetable seeds before, but my hubby got me a couple of Sweet Basil containers. So I have basically two pots of the Coleus and the Sweet Basil, hopefully they both will grow well.

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

rosey - I imagine somewhere you have mentioned where you are, but it's too much to expect that we will remember all that info for all the people who come by here. It would really help if you change your profile to reflect your general location and/ or gardening zone.

Unless you are in a very warm climate all those pots will have to come in for the winter, once night time temps are consistently below 50 deg F.

I have not had much success with overwintering basil, which is an annual, though I know other people have. Coleus over winters well. I have some that is about four years old now.

Tricone
Newly Registered
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2014 9:38 am
Location: southwest ON (zone 5/6)

I plant most of my perennials in autumn - you can get near-dormant perennials from garden centres very cheaply starting about this time of year where I am. It gives them a bit of time to settle in, and come springtime they tend to grow beautifully for me.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I'm glad I don't have to deal with digging up plants in the fall. I just have to get plants that are zone 9 and up and they pretty much sink or swim all year.



Return to “Perennials”