....each of the plants already has a bunch of new tender growth due to
the lateness of the shipment and the fact that they probably sat on my
porch in the box for a day or two before I got home (I was in the DC
area for the past week).

The question is - since there's already new growth (and a couple of
days of more rain predicted for the next couple of days), should I
forgo the mulch mound in this case? I've got them soaking away in a
bucket while I prep the bed.

This should end up being a nice grouping - three Belamis planted in a
triangle at the front of my lot.

I'll have to say that my heart goes out to all of you in the MD, VA,
DC area. It was almost like visiting Seattle or being back in
Northern Germany. I know that *we've* had a lot of rain (11 inches
this moth so far), but at least we have sun today. I hope the weather
breaks for you guys soon...Monday wasn't bad though...my friends and I
took a great ride through the Shennadoah Mountains - they on their
Harleys and me following in Anica's BMW Z3 - very cool...I'm glad the
weather held for that day at least.

In article , dave weil
wrote:

...each of the plants already has a bunch of new tender growth due to
the lateness of the shipment and the fact that they probably sat on my
porch in the box for a day or two before I got home (I was in the DC
area for the past week).

The question is - since there's already new growth (and a couple of
days of more rain predicted for the next couple of days), should I
forgo the mulch mound in this case? I've got them soaking away in a
bucket while I prep the bed.

One way to go is to put them into 5 gallon pots in the shade with a
mister that keeps the canes and tender new growth damp several times a
day. You KnoW that if you put them directly in the ground there'll be a
100 decree hot spell for 7 straight days. You can use either a
hose-end drip setup and get a mister emitter at the irrigation store or
you could use a hosebib timer and one of those hot weather misters sold
at discount stores like WalMart or Target. You'd have to remember to
turn it on morning and night and it could mist during the day.