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Perennial planting time?
the tidy gardener
Posts: 591
in Plants
hi guys
I ordered agastache "black adder" and Echinacea purpurea from a gardening catalogue for my birthday in September;i didn't realise they wouldn't be delivered until this month.
do I plant them when I get them, or put them into pots and plant in the spring? I only have a mini wooden greenhouse,which doesn't offer much protection,only from the rain,and my windowsills are full of other plants bought inside.
I have looked in my books and on the internet,and it seems rather conflicting advise.I suppose it depends on the winter we get?!
any suggestions? thanks.
Claire
0
Posts
The ground still has some heat in it claire, although that will be changing soon.Why not pot them, then bury the pots in the ground, this will stop the pots freezing solid in winter, and give you options next spring. They wont grow hardly at all, and having little space, this could be the best option. A cold frame is fine as well but you may need to cover it if temperatures really drop. A colder than average winter is currently forecast, so if it were me I'd take the first option.
I wouldn't plant out either of those at this end of the year. A cold frame as Dave suggests or a cold GH would be my choice
In the sticks near Peterborough
We found as Mr. Fothergills Nation of Gardeners all over the country last year that planting autumn delivered perennials in pots and keeping overwinter in a cold frame or greenhouse was better than planting outside. It was a warm wet winter last year and the ones in the ground often fell prey to slugs.
Agastache in particular are not that hardy here [ Yorkshire ], so I would leave them potted up.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
thanks guys!!
great advice again