Hello! Congratulations on your purchase. I am in the opposite bind, dealing with heat tolerance, living in z9/10. For what it's worth, I used to live in z7/8, and always left Clematis outdoors, even in the occasional snow. I grew group 3 Clematis, blooming on new wood.

How big are they as far as root ball and pot size? Do the roots fill the pot they are in?

If the root ball is tiny, grow them in pots for a while. I would put them in a basket or something to make it easy to set them outside on days that are above freezing, but bring them in at night. I am not sure how well the roots in a small pot would do if it got below freezing. The sun room alone won't have enough light for them to adjust quickly to the outdoors when the time comes (you will need to harden them off) and may have temperature swings that are hard on the plants.

IME the spring foliage is fairly frost resistant, so if there is a good sized rootball (from a well-filled quart rootball and up in size) I would plant it outside now as long as the soil is not frozen or completely sodden. Even if you lose the tips of the current stems, it will send out more at the proper time.

Clematis like reasonably well-drained soil and will send out more stems if planted a few inches deeper than in the pot.

Bans, they were supposed to be bare roots, but they had sprouted. I will pot them up.

Milkshake, good to know they can stay outside once they are in for a bit. :)

Thank you both!

Pot them up deeper than where the roots join the stems so that the first 3" or so of stem are under the soil. Outdoor daytime temperatures will keep them compact for a while. Don't overwater since they won't be using much water for now, and you don't want the roots to rot. The soil should be lightly damp, and almost dry out an inch or so down before watering again. Once the weather starts warming and they start growing more vigorously then they will need more water.

Don't be discouraged if this doesn't work out; those little bare roots are sometimes referred to as body bags. You also may not find they are correctly labeled, but since they are inexpensive, they can be fun to try, and if they work out, clematis are addictive.

i dont buy that at all ... until we know.. where they came from ... all plants need to be hardened off to be cold tolerant ....

they are not houseplants .. so not indoors ...

i would dampen some media .. pot them up ... and put them outside in full shade ... near whichever door is on the north side.. if any ...

and i would leave them outside unless a FREEZE were forecast .... frost unless heavy.. rarely gets next to the house ... and frankly .. in your z7.. such would seem rather rare to me ...

if some night is to be extreme ... put them in the garage ... it wont FROST in the garage.. and we dont really care about the cold itself ...

they are zone appropriate plants ... treat them as such ... dont baby them to death ...

the bottom line.. you bought a root system ... protect and encourage that ... and the plant will live ... the leaves.. more or less could be sacrificed ... though we aim to avoid that ...

ken

Thank you all! Poor things are TINY..2-3 inch pot. I put them in large pots (gallon?) so they can have room to spread. Freaks me out a bit to leave them outside, but that seems to be the consensus. I did put them on the north side but facing a tree on the west side....filtered sunlight that way. I overwintered a LOT of stuff there since I redid my garden beds late fall.

The pear trees are blooming 2-3 weeks early, so it is unlikely we will freeze at this point. I think the clematises have a good chance. The bleeding heart, though, is turning brownish after only a week...I should have potted it up then. :o I will replace him if he doesn’t perk up soon. I really appreciate the help!!