We’re here to help! Here are a few steps you can take to help your plants get established quickly so that they can grow to their full potential.
- Open Your Package Right Away & Check The Contents
- Watch: Unpacking Your Perennials
- Planting Potted or Bareroot Perennials
- Right Plant, Right Place: Soil, Sun & Shade
- Watering: Not Too Much, Not Too Little
- Additional Resources
Open Your Package Right Away & Check The Contents
Potted plants will arrive in varying stages of growth, depending on the plant and the time of year.
Healthy bulbs are firm without any soft or mushy spots. Some surface mold is natural and won’t affect growth.
Bareroot plants may look a bit lifeless, but there will be no transplant shock, so they grow vigorously once in the ground.
Potted Plants
- Plants will arrive in one of three stages of growth, depending on the plant and the time of year that you’re planting.
- Plants with green leafy growth: Wait to plant until after the last frost date.
- Plants with no top growth, or with dried-out foliage from the previous year: May arrive with an “I’m Sleeping” sticker. The plant is dormant and will sprout from the buds at the soil line. You can plant these dormant plants right away.
- Shrubs with bare twigs: May arrive with an “I’m Sleeping” sticker. The plant is dormant. Look for green buds or scrape the bark with your fingernail. If you see green tissue under the bark the plant is healthy. Plant as soon as possible.
- If your weather cooperates, begin planting as soon as possible.
- If not, keep your perennials where they get some sun through a window, and keep potted plants moist, not soggy.
Bareroot Plants
- Open the package and moisten the peat moss packing material if it’s dry, and then loosely rewrap the roots.
- Plant as soon as possible.
- In the meantime, keep the package in a cool place out of direct sun and protect from freezing.
Fall-Planted Bulbs
- Check to be sure all bulbs are in good shape. If any are mushy or soft, please contact us immediately.
- Fall bulbs are best planted around the time of the first frosts, when evening temperatures average between 40° to 50°F. You can, if necessary, store bulbs for a month or longer if you keep them in a cool (room temperature), dry place.
- When in doubt, the bulbs belong in the ground. They won’t last until next season.
Spring-Planted Bulbs
- Check to be sure all bulbs are in good shape. If any are mushy or soft, please contact us immediately.
- Wait to plant the bulbs until all danger of frost has passed.
- In the meantime, store the bulbs at cool room temperature (60° to 65°F) in a dry, dark place.
