Re: CULT: Overwintering in Pots in Zones 3/4

Sandra, and anyone else who might care, I started potting rhizomes and
planting pot and all for overwintering for two reasons.  (1)I got more
rhizomes than I had planting space one late summer, and I knew I would not
have time to clear and prepare a new bed anymore that summer/fall.  Other
plants were in a bed that might have been used, but I didn't want to uproot
and destroy them.  So, failing available space, I decided to pot the rhizomes,
keep and tend the pots on the sunny, cement driveway till late fall, then
plant the pots in the garden for the winter.  Next spring I was able to move
them to a permanent spot, minus pots, of course.  (2)I also acquired some
rhizomes so late that I was reasonably certain they would not, if planted
directly into the ground, have time to grow a decent root system before
winter.  Rather than risk losing them, I planted the rhizomes in pots and put
them under a grow light in my basement for a few weeks.  When their growth
showed me that a good root system had probably developed, I took the pots and
buried them in garden soil.   I plant the pots up to the rim in the ground,
and I mulch, as I wrote previously, with a light, coarse mulch that doesn't
pack down but will keep the winter sun off the rhizomes.  It has worked
perfectly with TBs, medians, Siberians, and spurias.

Arnold

Arnold & Carol Koekkoek
38 7th Street, NE
Sioux Center, IA 51250
e-mail  koekkoek@mtcnet.net

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