bare-roots. This has always been my planting methods of choice for trees, shrubs (esp.roses) and even quite a few perennials. For a fraction of the costs of container grown plants, bare-roots have filled almost every inch of my allotment so my disappointment at their dire failure in the woods was vast. Not a single bare-root, including raspberries!! and half a dozen vigorous wild roses survived through their first summer because by the time they have managed to put out adequate feeder roots, we are in spring with no chance of extra irrigation. A couple of trees have fared a little better, but still take 2 whole years before putting out even a smidgeon of growth while the first year maiden hedging is barely hanging in but will probably survive due to it's innate toughness. All planting has to be done in autumn anyway in our dry woods...but to have this cheap and easy method outlawed has been a savage blow. Instead, I am now containerising plants for a whole year and transplanting, still in autumn, but with an intact rootball.

Sorry, I don't understand. You're saying planting bareroot in the woods is a failure, so.are you using 'outlawed' metaphorically? Is the cost of buying containerized plants prohibitive or you can't find what you want in containers? Around here, most containerized shrubs and trees are so pot bound that I have to spend at least a half hour soaking, rinsing and prying to get a plantable root system.

Sorry to hear about your lost plants, Marie. I had kept a small leaved rhodi in a pot for a year before putting it out. Then our long drought. I have watered that and an newish azalea daily over the summer. I will have to be mindful to keep my established rhodies and shrubs moist before the ground freezes this fall. It seem to make a big difference in preventing winter burn.

I have a Nova Zembla (also R. 'America'), well established. I had intended on rooting softwood cuttings earlier, but then got busy and the August heat exhausted me.

Does anyone think I have a chance of rooting cuttings now? (I have propagated rhodies before with success, but cut them in early July.). If so, I can give it a try and share some of the takes with you. I am in Zone 5a New England.

I also wanted to propagate 'Olga' and fragrant 'swamp pink azalea' -- a native plant (I've forgotten the name).

fragrant 'swamp pink azalea' = R. viscosum, which usually is white but has selections with pink flowers. Nice plant with summer flowers that have amazing scent.

Thank you, NHBabs. This plant grows wild in relatively moist, not wet, acid soil woods in north central MA and NH. Mine came from Ashburnham, MA about 20 years ago. I had a very similar environment with an eastern ENE exposure (morning light only). I transplanted a 3 to 5 ft. established plant. Never a problem. It is pink and intoxicatingly fragrant. It blooms a couple of weeks after my 'Olga'. I'm hankering after the white flowered one with a bit of carmine at the throat of the bloom. Somewhere in my Weston Nurseries catalog/s, I've got it starred. I remember enjoying seeing and inhaling the devine fragrance of one on the grounds of the DeCordova museum.

Do you think I have any chance of rooting one of the R. viscosum? I can try a few cuttings and can overwinter them (once potted in quart pot) in an unheated cellar with or without exposure to light. Or I can make a point of rooting next year. It's a thumbs up shrub! The hummers don't mind it.

i agree with Ken about seizing the opportunities for bargains. I started my now 20 year old plus rhodies and viburnums from small $5 bargains or from "orphanage" areas of nurseries.

Elderberry and blueberries were others that I want/Ed to propagate. This summer, before I put protection up for our blueberries, there were cedar waxwings eating them. I love seeing those birds, but they are erratic. Even with ample berries here and there, they cannot be relied on th show up. One woman insisted that the regularly came to roost (overnight) in shrubs just below her kitchen window.

Yep, 'outlawed' is purely metaphorical. I have always bought bare-roots at this time - they are a fraction of the cost of container grown...or even containerised plants, dug up from the fields, then sent out. They are often held in cold stores for weeks so the roots are fairly dessicated...but as they are dormant, it causes no stress to the plants...but coming into growth in spring, without extra irrigation, is a failure...and yet if they are transplanted in pots or grown from seed directly, autumn is the very best time for me to do all the planting and sowing. Small rose cuttings, dug up from the allotment with an intact rootball didn't miss a beat (and also got no extra irrigation).

I guess my lesson was that timing is of the essence when dealing with (water) restrictions...unlike my usual tactics of doing stuff whenever I get around to it and sloshing water (available on tap) as required.

Got it, thanks.

Ken, the rhodies were bought around early August this year. Their deaths haven't discouraged me from buying more bargains, including a redbud that seems to be doing just fine. If I knew an extended heat wave was coming I don't think I'd buy a bargain rhodie at that time. I might go back later and see if nursery watered it and if it looked good, I might get it then.

Wait, we're supposed to learn from our dead plants? I must have an entire encyclopedia set of knowledge in that bucket I keep in the garage. Tags and tags of lessons right there.

Or you just have fun. It's amazing how you think you're not getting anywhere and then all of a sudden need a chainsaw.

My not-planted-at-the-proper-time rhododendrons came along just fine, but you're right about the root balls. They're nearly always pot bound and the fibrous root systems just don't connect properly with the planting soil unless you pull some of the roots apart to get them started. It doesn't take many but you do need a few going out into the new soil. My rhododendrons have bigger problems now though. A wood pallet thrown on top snapped them off at the ground and I suppose I have two more lessons for the lesson bucket. But at least the kids are making progress on their fort.

btw for the youngsters an "encyclopedia" was a set of books that in days past required actual page turning and looking in order to "google" anything.

jeeze, who threw the pallet? I guess you have to forgive kids but if it was a workman or spouse, its unforgivable.

Due to a rodent run (of the disgusting not-just -urban type) we've been cleaning up places that haven't been touched in 10 years. I've been unearthing plant tags that make me think of body bags. I swear I haven't planted and lost so many plants in 22 years here. I couldn't have.

Of course we don't learn from every plant death. But when 5 rhodies curl up their toes in one season, I hope I can learn something from it.

I don't know anything about planting roadies but I sure do know about planting trees, shrubs, anything in hot weather..... DON"T, wait till fall. ALWAYS. They will survive better in a pot than in stress in the ground. It is much easier to water and keep moist a pot placed in the shade than a tree in stress on a baking hot dry hillside in 100ºF heat. October is the sweet spot around here for planting . I know things are different up north where you have to worry about hardening things in for the winter. I have a BANK of stuff waiting to plant . I am jumping the gun because all this rain has cooled off the ground. It is very unusual out there. I bought some odd Mojave milkweed , a desert golden eye and Silphium albiflorium during that time when no ones plants stuff and odd interesting xeric plants can be found to temp the wallets of fools. I willingly complied. It is a great sales tactic and it WORKS even in hot hot Texas.. All were full sun Southwestern scree plants. I even waited on planting them.

Yep, I made a mistake. Not a terribly expensive one, but I should have waited. In my defense- though no one is attacking me - the Boston Globe confirmed this morning that this is one of the hottest, driest summer ever recorded- that's since 1872. A lot of Yankees, both homegrown and in-comers, were gardening in a new climate this summer. I'm still betting on a lot of plant material going on sale this fall. It has been too hot to garden and people haven't caught on to fall gardening yet. I notice the nurseries are making a concerted pitch for fall planting.

Eh, don't beat yourself up about it. They're just plants, they'll be others to come along to bring you joy.

I plant according to *my* timetable. I realize there are optimal times for certain things, but these times don't often coincide with my schedule/commitments. I used to get all stressed out about the "right" time to do things and oh no what will happen if I do something at the "wrong" time! My lesson learned has been they're plants, above all else they want to survive. So, if I plant or move something in less than ideal conditions, I give it extra TLC in the short term - say, extra watering and/or temporary shade canopy. There have been occasional losses over the years, but not that many - which reinforces, in my mind at least, that it's ok to tackle moving/planting/dividing at less-than-optimal times or conditions. Of course, good planting technique plays a role - perhaps the rhodies croaked because they were root-bound, not because it was too hot, like you mentioned.

Regarding the bare roots, those would need super-extra TLC if planted in the woods (re: tons of competing roots from mature trees) in terms of water requirements. Makes sense they would struggle and eventually die. I think the idea of growing the bare roots in pots for a while until they have a good healthy root system of their own and can compete with mature tree roots is a sound one. Or, you could try the spin-out material to line planting areas (this material repels plant roots) or lining planting holes with plastic trash bags with holes cut for drainage. I've tried these methods, and they definitely help get new plants established under mature trees - heck, I even got bare-root hydrangeas established under a mature maple tree years ago, they're thriving to this day.

So, yea, live and learn from your gardening experience - or "lessons", whatever you want to term it. You won't make the same mistakes again. :0)

I didn't think I had lost anything of significance this season, then I remembered my weeping larch which I had planted late last summer, and that I had thought I had established well. Then, come the dry spring, and even though I watered it constantly, it just kept on trying with new growth, then stopping. Eventually it just dried up and became totally brittle! I really liked that tree as it had a central piece in the back bed and its shape was perfect. What was also odd was that another larch which I had planted earlier in the season in another location had really thrived. When I pulled it up, and like Marie mentioned, I realized that I hadn't done much with that root ball; I just plunked it in the ground. I think that combined with the less than ideal conditions, led to an early demise.

Anyway, I didn't mourn too much, I decided to try another focal perennial in its place which I am looking forward to seeing progress. Another lesson learned, for the moment!

Here are some of my losses/lessons learned. After nurturing trays of seedlings through the winter and planting them out, I lost 95 percent to chickens scratching and rabbits/chipmunks/squirrels/woodchucks nibbling. If I can't protect seedlings (or plants), I will not waste the effort again. Now I'm battling deer that have breached a perimeter that was secure for a year. Major lesson 2 for this year is to resist the urge to prune until it's safe. Ilex and yew tips died back when I pruned too late in fall or too early in spring. A magnolia tree popped a million water spouts when I pruned when it wasn't dormant. Finally, the overarching lesson that is staring me in the face but which I haven't accepted is to harbor my resources (time, money, water) to bringing the plants I have to optimum health and beauty before taking on more.. This is too depressing so I will end on a more upbeat note. My lessons from the year before! I learned the effectiveness of timely, targeted weeding!