where are you;. big city name ...

as tot eh words alone .... you divide perennials ... not shrubs.. this is more like separating them ... and im ot sure this would be the right time of year to do so ...

i wonder why they are blooming .. unless this is a spring pic.. or you are down under ...

ken

I am in the Tampa bay area (zone 10a). You are right, I should have said separate the plants not divide them. The picture with the blooms was taken in the Spring.

P.S.- Going to change my topic heading.

Roll the pot on its side (applying some gentle pressure) and slip the root ball out of the pot. Does it look like it may come apart without too much slicing and tearing? If it's one big ball of fibrous, intertwined roots, you can still give it a try but they will need a lot of babying to survive this kind of surgery.

I wouldn't hesitate to separate them but I'd take my time doing it (in the shade and with a spritzer bottle of water handy in case roots start to dry out) and I'd do great aftercare by providing rigged shade until they get past the initial stress. Have the holes already dug when you do it so you don't have to leave them lying there while you go dig. I'd also make sure my watering actually penetrated the soil and I'd do that watering at least a couple of times a week until my ground was frozen. Mulch them well and baby them a bit more in the spring- then don't hold it against them if the spring show next year is a bit lacking.

i dont think i would do it ...

but if i did ... i would take it out of the pot.. use a saw.. and cut it in thirds ... leaving a good part of each with undisturbed roots .. and i would REPOT all 3.. and grow them in the pots for another season ... in bright shade with perfect proper water ... and then plant them next year ....

i would want to baby them for a year to regrow a vibrant root mass... before i freed them to mother earth ...

does that make any sense?? ..and to be clear.. that is what i would do in my MI ... if its different for FL.. then others will have to chime in ... perhaps you can regenerate the root mass with your near year around growing season .. than i can up here with 4 months of frozen pot ground freeze ....

these are shrubs.. which are closer to trees in regards to root growth ... as compared to dividing perennials ... in which the root growth would all happen in one season.. hence my clarifying the words to begin with ....

ken

VML68 you are getting lots of advice from the NORTH. Here in Florida where the ground never freezes and it is pleasant all year you can separate those plants anytime you want. If you are worried about them, keep the three plants in pots and plant them in the ground in February or March as long as there is no brisk weather forecast by then. I propagate hundreds of plants every year for my garden club and have had no problems dividing, clipping, or separating plants from February through November. And if I had to do it in December and January I would.

I've divided other plants similar to yours. However, living most of my life in NY, Separating in Florida with this climate, I'm not sure. If the plants are still actively growing, I suppose it should be fine.

I would take the plants out of the pot, sit it in a bucket of water for an hour or longer. You might be able to tease the plants apart without losing too many roots. The odds are you will lose flowers for the spring, depending on the amount of root loss.

Jane

I thnk this is much less hassle than people are assuming. I would have absolutely no compunction in simply watering thoroughly, tipping from the pot and pulling the separate plants apart. It really won't bother them if a few roots get broken. Indeed, cut through them if they're impossibly tangled. Replant immediately and water copiously.

I wouldn't hesitate to separate them either. As mature as the stems look, the three could be pretty entwined. It may take a saw or knife. What concerns me a little is that are three to begin with. I suspect these are plants grown for the florists trade not nursery stock. They may be fine, especially in a more mild climate, but could have been subjected to a regime of lighting, fertilizers, growth stimulants to ensure blooming at a particular time. Not that florists plants can't recover from that and eventually thrive in the ground, but it may take some time before they really begin to perform and bloom again.