If they are dozing it anyway, go to Home Depot or some box store and buy a hunk
of burlap. It comes on a roll. They also sell it at most fabric stores, but it
will cost more there. Dig the plants out and make sure you have a good solid
root ball which you can wrap with the burlap. You can probably use any fabric
for this purpose, but it's very important to have a good root ball this late
into the season. Borrow or buy a sharpshooter. It is a very long, narrow spade
which goes down about a foot or more and you may get enough taproot that way.
The plant will probably weep and fuss, but have the holes dug before you go dig
the plants. Plant them immediately and put something like an umbrella over them
for a week or so when the sun is how. Water well, but don't over water as that
can cause them to get root or crown or stem rot. Just keep them moist for a few
weeks. You may save them.

If you live in Texas or south, it may not be such a good idea, but try anyway.
Better to save and lose to not have tried at all.

V



On Sun, 01 Jun 2003 17:51:59 -0500, griffon wrote:

There is a large patch of butterfly weed growing in a ditch near my
house and this is going to be bulldozed out in a few days because they
are building an apartment complex. The land's owner said "dig up
whatever you want" when I asked about it. I know that it has a
taproot which can go fairly deep and I was wondering if I should
expect any success at all if I try to dig it up and take it home to
stick in the ground. I am trying to decide how much effort to put
into it, since there is quite a bit of it and any I do not dig up wil
die, so I hate not to get as much as possible.