Bare Root Plants

My first post, so hi to everyone.

I have ordered a set of cottage garden bare root plants which have arrived suddenly. They are all perennials such as Lupins and the like. I have not prepared the bed yet, and truth be told will be unable to get into the garden for a few weeks at the moment.

Firstly, is it too early to plant perennials now and secondly, if it is ok (which I assume), how do I store them until they can be planted?

Thanjs.

 

Hello and welcome to GC.

I would have thought you could pot them in compost untill you're ready for planting.

 

I don't think there is any problem in principle with planting hardy perennials now. I am just about to clear out a lot of old plants and replace them with biennials that have been grown in pots.

In theory yours would keep for some time over winter in a cool place as bare root plants. But I would agree with the others and put them into pots now, so that when they wake up in the spring they will have something to grow into. You could just use garden soil - after all thats where they are going to have to live later on. You don't have to use compost - I tend to mix the two.

I also would agree with Loofah. Lupins are hardy, and will probably be alright in pots in the open, but with very young plants it might be kinder to give them a bit of protection in something like a coldframe, or right by the house so as to get a little warmth from the walls.

 

I would agree with the others, most hardy perennials can be planted out now (and throughout winter, providing the ground isn't frozen). Just a word of warning, when they arrive they will look either very sorry for themselves, or dead! Herbaceous perennials mostly die away in winter, to reappear in Spring.

Welcome to GC BTW : )

 

If it were me I would pot them up, but I would keep the pots in a "sheltered" spot (cold frame or failing that a cold greenhouse) as the pots will expose more of the root area to the cold, than just surface-soil would do, and that might effect them more than being planted out.

Alternatively you could just "heel them in" until you are ready to plant them in their final position.

 

As long as the soil isnt frozen you will be ok, that said id pot them up and plant them a bit later when the temprtures are higher and everything is prepared.

 

I didn't read your post properly, sorry, didn't realise they'd arrived already! Yes, pot them up first until you're ready.

What do bare root perennials look like? I've not seen them before.

 

They often arive in a box with the roots of each plant in small plastic bags with damp sawdust or compost. Often a cheap way to go about things but like any bare root they need planting out, heeling in or potting up imediately you get them.

 

I was always amazed in the past that plants could survive and be sold as bare root plants. But I assume that it is the same in principle as a Dahlia tuber, which is just a fat root. Overwinter most herbaceous plants lose their leaves and go into hibernation. They store food in their roots in the form of starches and sugars. This is to see them through the winter and to supply the energy to get a good start in spring. Its just that some roots are fatter than others.

Consequently I assume that you can store most plants as bare roots over winter by keeping them frost free and dry (very fractionally moist) like Dahlia tubers. Although, as Paul said,its best to pot them up quickly. A Dahlia can store a lot of energy and moisture in its tubers, so it can survive for some time in spring after it has started to grow again even if it isn't potted up. But I think ordinary bare root plants can't store so much food, consequently they need to be potted up and watered very soon after they come to life in the spring, and preferably before.

This is just my assumption, and I would be interested in other views.

 

Dahlias and things like Bergonias have lots of fleshy bits, which store energy. Something which just has roots will die if left unplanted.

Bare rooted plants are often not entire "bare", they can have a rootball of soil. Its no different to transplanting "in the Autumn" (although I for me I would usually transplant Herbaceous in early Spring, whereas I would transplant Trees / Hedges in Late Autumn.

Bare root doesn't have a pot, fancy compost, or the requirements of careful per-pot watering, they are just field-grown and lifted for sale, so usually quite a bit cheaper, but you can't plant them in the Summer, as they are unlikely to survive the stress (whereas for a pot-grown plant its basically undisturbed by the planting process)

 

Kristen - don't all roots store some food over winter? I appreciate that some store a lot more than others. Even bare root plants will survive for a short while without being planted. I have seen some sprouting in their plastic bags, on garden centre shelves in the spring. But obviously they can't survive for long.

There are a number of other plants that are regularly stored overwinter like Dahlia tubers. Plants such as Verbena rigida and Salvia patens. Their roots/tubers are no thicker than a pencil. I suspect that you cold store most things that way. Its just a matter of the thinner the roots the less the margin of safety.

 

"don't all roots store some food over winter"

I reckon they must, otherwise they'd struggle to get going in the spring! I think the difference is how long they can be "stored" out of soil. Those shrivelled up things in bags in garden centres get away very slowly - you waste a year over a freshly transplanted one (e.g. mail order - from a supplier who lifts-and-posts)

Yes they will definitely last for several days without being planted, at least in the winter, not in the Summer!, and they shouldn't be planted if the ground is frozen.

I have quite often put such things in a suitably large container with some damp potting compost and left them for a while until ready to plant.

 

I've never heard of bare rooted perennials, only roses and shrubs. Makes sense though.