GardenBanter.co.uk - ? Trumpet vine and Bleeding Heart & starting early -

"TakeThisOut" wrote in message
...
pam - gardengal

TakeThisOut wrote:

I'm in zone ? Long Island, NY ? and just picked up ssome trumpet vine
and
bleeding heart ready for spring planting. But it's not spring yet, I
know
it's
not safe to plant here until May 15. Can I get these perennials started
indoors? I Intend to use 2 of the 8 trumpet vines in large barrell pots
on
a
huge 2nd story deck, as well as the bleeding hearts. Will these winter
well?
(Right now I have 2 dormant Clematis in similar large barrell pots on
the
deck
covered with 2' of snow, hopefully they'll come back)

Also - can anyone direct me to a website where this kind of information
is
readily available via searching? (Like an online garden encyclopedia)

TIA

You can plant as early as your ground is ready to work (not frozen or
rain
sodden). I assume that May 15th date is your "last frost" date. That
affects
the
date you can safely plant out annuals and tender plants, but you should
be
able to
plant anything else which is zone hardy for you at any time the ground
can be
worked. May 15 is supposed to be the "last frost" date in my area as well
and
it
is not recommended that things like impatiens and tomatoes be planted out
prior to
that date, however I am perfectly safe planting out perennials and hardy
annuals
before that date. They are perfectly root hardy and while tender new
foliage
may
be slightly affected by a late frost, the plants themselves will be
unharmed.

Planting in a container is slightly different - the smaller area of soil
may
freeze easier than the actual ground but it will warm up faster, too.
Wait
until
your snow melts and check to see if the soil in these tubs is frozen. If
it
is not
and is dry enough and workable, go ahead and plant. These plants will
fare
much
better planted out than they will in indoors.

pam - gardengal

Thanks you Pam - My intentions were to plant the trumpet vines and
bleeding
hearts indoors in smaller containers first, now, and wait until the
weather
outside was more cooperative to transfer these hopefully, larger more
established plants outside. (Around May 15) IOW - I want to get the plants
started and growing early because I'm trying to fool Mother Nature :-)

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TAKETHISOUT budysbackagain(@)THAT TOO a-oh-ell dot com

If you're going to be having them in the house very long, make sure you
harden them off by moving them in and out of the house for awhile to get
used to the cooler spring weather. They'd probably appreciate it. Bleeding
heart is one of my earliest bloomers and it really doesn't like hot weather.
I think it might struggle in a house. I'd put it in the coolest place I had.
I think you're zone is a 5. My last frost date is also May 15 and the
bleeding hearts are always already blooming gloriously by then.

Carlotta
Iowa
zone 4/5