Long story short... we moved over the summer, and had planned that our yard and gardening beds would be ready by October at the latest. Bought about 30 of 4" pots of perennials (black-eyed susan, coneflower, coreopsis etc. for sun and heucheras, some ferns, hostas for shade) on a sale, thinking they'd be in the ground before the end of October. Fast forward to real life, my beds are *just* being finished -- this weekend. The plants have been in their 4" pots and are being housed in a cheap greenhouse-y shelf unit against a wall in the backyard. My dilemma is whether to hold on to them like this until spring, or risk putting them in the ground now (with plans to cover them for nights below 40 F.) I'm in Fremont, East Bay area near San Francisco, CA. We do expect to get some nights that dip just below freezing, but not many.

Wish I had not gotten tempted by the fall sales and just waited until the space was ready :-(