I have the same question. In southern NY Nov 6 plants still flowering. can I dig up ?

this late in the year they should be near finishing anyway.

It`s kind of old school to recommend that you HAVE to wait till a frost hit them.

I reckon your plants started looking tired?

Sorry, not familiar with your region.

If you still have doubts, digg up a boring one and check the tubers,
I know from some professional growers that they start before the frost as working is so much easier

you can still ckeck for signs of virus

flowering plants are easier to ID in case labels got lost...

As Linaria said, don't worry about waiting for the frost. Cutting them down does the same thing as the frost- losing the plant above ground lets the tubers know that the season has ended.

It's good to cut them down and let the tubers sit for a couple weeks before digging. There are a few reasons for this:

1. From experience, the extra time in the ground will 'pop the eyes' on the tuber clump, making it easier to divide in the fall BEFORE storage. Eyes refer to the new sprouts starting from the clump to take the place of the plants cut down or frosted.

2. It is thought by some that the tubers will go dormant in that time, and will store better out of the ground if given a couple weeks before digging. This confuses me a bit, as many tubers are itching to sprout... so how are they dormant?

3. It is thought by some that the tubers are better off in the ground as long as possible before digging/dividing/storing, and lots of growers put off digging until Dec/Jan... Be warned, though--deep freezes that go down more then two inches in soil OR overly-saturating rains can quickly turn tubers to mush.

With all of that said, folks often cut, dig and store at the same time. If the recommended way doesn't work time-wise for you, then do what you can when you can.

Thank you guys.