I bought these plants but it's February...

easombd58511 · 27 February

I live in Texas and it's 90 degrees in February so I jumped the gun and bought a clematis plant and wisteria plant. But now people are telling me it will probably get cold again so I shouldn't plant yet. But now I have these plants in these bags and I'm not sure what to do! How do I keep them alive until I can plant them outside?

Helen P3 · 27 February

Hi easombd58511, according to Google your current temperature is 32C. not exactly a typical UK temperature. You could read how to treat your plants here:https://txmg.org/randall/staying-connected/gardening-with-the-masters/gardening-tips-2/popular-vines/#:~:text=When planting make sure it,the base of the vine.

By the way, your photographs don't show. Read how to upload them here:

https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1010384/how-to-upload-a-picture-or-embed-other-media#latest

Good luck with your plants!

Fairygirl · 27 February

Hi @easombd58511 - when you say they're in bags, are they bare root plants? That would be unusual certainly, but if you can give that info, it'll help with any further advice.

However, if the plants have been grown in your area, or in similar conditions to yours, there's no reason why you can't plant them, as long as they're a good size and maturity, the site you have is ready, and temps don't drop so much that the ground freezes. If it was winter with you, and the plants had been grown undercover, you would have to acclimatise them a little first.
Your current temps would be not dissimilar to summer temps in many parts of the south of England, and the main thing to keep an eye on would be watering well through that heat, until the plants were well established. That would generally be for around 6 months or so, again depending on how long you have that heat and dry conditions. The variety of clematis will also be a factor in how it's treated and the conditions it's in. That's where the prep of the site is important. Wisterias are often grafted plants, so you'll need to plant accordingly. I don't grow them but other forum members do, so they might be able to help better with that

Re your photos - they aren't showing, but if you can reduce their size to around 1MB they'll load. It's an ongoing glitch on the forum unfortunately.

nutcutlet · 27 February

I can see the pics but there's not much to see except the clem is jackmanii and the wisteria is blue. They are in plastic bags,

Fairygirl · 27 February

I couldn't get them to open after downloading @nutcutlet.
I wonder if that's an alternative to plastic pots.

Busy-Lizzie · 27 February

I can see the photos but I had to download them. They look like the sort you can buy in English supermarkets. My 2 clematis from an SM are doing well but they took a couple of years to get going as they are sold a year younger than ones bought from nurseries.

I don't know about the Texan climate, how hot or cold it gets, but it is never that warm here in the UK in February. Those plants are fine in English winter temperatures, both hardy, especially the clematis. I would plant them. Dig in some compost first, water them and don't let them dry out.

nutcutlet · 27 February

Fairygirl said:

I couldn't get them to open after downloading @nutcutlet.
I wonder if that's an alternative to plastic pots.

I should think so. The bag around the wisteria looks like it has compost in as well as root. The clem is hidden by the label.
when I clicked on the link a little box appeared top left and I had to click on that. I'm on a Mac laptop, might be different elsewhere

Fairygirl · 27 February

If the clematis is that small/immature, I'd pot that on for another year before planting out. It's a tough variety, but if it gets much hotter through summer [I'm guessing that's very likely] then it'll struggle to establish easily.

That temp would obviously be much higher for this time of year than anywhere in the UK, but it's that swinging from high to low, and back again, that would be problematic, hence my query about how/where the plants came from. The OP was concerned about the temps dropping again, so that would be the main issue just now.

Busy-Lizzie · 27 February

@Fairygirl in my garden in SW France where it is hotter than the UK I tend to plant straight in the ground, rather than growing on in pots as the pots get dry so quickly. When I grew annuals and roses in pots I had to water a lot every day, sometimes twice. In summer it can often be 95F, 35C.

Fairygirl · 27 February

Fair enough @Busy-Lizzie. We have the opposite situation where many plants would struggle to get going in our conditions if they're small. I used to buy supermarket clems quite often when I started gardening, because we had no money to spare for bigger, mature plants, but I lost them on a regular basis, even when I'd improved the ground, just because they couldn't cope. It still happens, even with improved ground and mature specimens!
It's always hard to judge though - especially a site in America, because many states have serious swings in each direction with their climate.

Fairygirl · 27 February

I've just seen a post from James Holt talking about the weird weather- and I think he's in Texas. I've sent him a link to this thread and asked if he can help you in any way @easombd58511.
You probably won't see this until later, and it may be the same for him, but fingers crossed....

Sorry @nutcutlet, I meant to reply to you. That would explain the bags right enough. I had wondered if they were maybe temporarily planted into those fabric bags that are quite popular now for potatoes etc.

I bought these plants but it's February...

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