Topic: Planting Bare Root Perennials

[raisedbedted]

Hi all,

I have bought a lod of bare root perennials from wilkinsons which are showing small green shoots within the peat bags they have come in.  They are aquilegia, delphinium, dicentra etc.

We garden on a fairly wet clay, would you...

a) leave them in their packets until the worst of the weather is out of the way.
b) plant them in the garden straight away using compost etc to loosen the soil.
c) plant them in pots in a cold greenhouse and wait till they grow before planting out.

all advice appreciated, thanks
rbt

[GrannieAnnie]

c.  if they won't freeze in your greenhouse.  It will give them a fighting chance against the slugs to be larger when planted out. For me, greenery growing in plastic bags only welcomes rotting.

[raisedbedted]

Thanks GrannieAnnie will try that, had forgotten about the menace of slugs.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I'd put them in pots and mollycoddle them till they're well established. Experience of buying plants from Wilko's and similar places suggests thaqt they may well have been sitting around in an overheated shop, and been weakened by the experience.