On 26/10/07 12:35, in article , "Janet
Tweedy" wrote:

In article , Peter Sutton
writes
Everyone knows that you can overwinter Dahlias as a tuber. Today I have just
dug up Salvia patens, which I understand can be treated the same way. And so
can Verbena rigida I believe. Any suggestions of others. And is it critical
exactly when you do it. And what about bare root perennials - you see a lot
for sale. Is that the same thing?


I overwinter salvias and verbena , but in the ground, i.e. I leave them
alone, though sometimes I mulch a particularly nice salvia. All the
dahlias apart from the giant Japanese one that I grew in 2006, came
through last winter.

We leave all the Salvias in but as you say, mulch any we think a bit dodgy.
We have a fairly good clump of S. involucrata in one house border and always
mulch that 'just in case'. It's done about 4 years now, I think.

I'll leave 'after Eight' in the ground and possibly put Turkish Sunshine
(as it's in a pot) in the greenhouse. I have NEVER been able to winter
dahlias out of the ground in spite of following every step advised. They
just seem to rot.

Never tried, I'm afraid. We leave ours in but gardening here or in the CIs
is just so different. I'm not quite sure what the OP means by bare root
perennials, though. Bare root hedging plants, perhaps, such a beech or
hawthorn etc?


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'