"Merrily" wrote in message
...
On Nov 25, 9:00 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"Merrily" wrote in message

...

I have heard and read that it is a good idea to cover perennials
with
6 to 8 inches of leaves. We are in a new development and we do not
have a lot of leaves; however, I obtained some awaiting pickup in
the
street of a nearby neighborhood and I raked up our few leaves. I
placed them over three new this year plants and piled them up as
much
as I could. Then along came a wind and blew most away. I managed to
save a few on one plant by running out and placing one large
nursery
plastic pot over the leaves with a brick on top to hold it there.
My
questions are will leaving the pot over the leaves covering the
plant
hurt the plant if I leave it there possibly all winter and what do
most people do to keep the leaves piled up as high as 6 to 8
inches?

Depends on where you live, and which plants you're dealing with.

We live in Zone 6 (I've heard some gardeners call it 6B). I'm
concerned about three smallish plants, a Hosta, a Bleeding Heart, and
a Day Lily Stella D'ora. We do have some shrubs and they were planted
in 2005 and we didn't do anything to protect them over the two winters
that we've been here and they seemed to have done OK, except for some
insect problem in the summer. Of the three mentioned plants, only the
Hosta did well over the summer. The plants were purchased from a
Future Farmers of America student and they were field grown plants
with roots, etc. and someone told me that the two that did come up
some but did not bloom may bloom next summer. I really didn't
understand what I was buying very well.

I live in Jackson. All three plants need no special care for winter. The
Bleeding Heart grows in the woods behind my house.
Betsy