Yes, lots of good tips here. Snow is a good insulator, usually there is 2' on the level here all winter. We have heavy red clay, so we brought in truckloads of sand and good soil to make some slightly raised beds for perennials and a raised deer fenced veggie garden.
We are on a south facing slope to a lake, and protected to the north by a wooded ridge. I'm in my 70's now and my mom was quite a gardener....she always said you should plant in the spring for things to "get their roots down". More true here.
Interesting experiment with the daylily roots tho Admmad. Yes, some plants hate getting their roots disturbed and do not transplant well....oddly some plant don't like having their position relative to the sun changed either. Growing conditions matter.
I live in an area where there are surprisingly few gardens...it is rural here and if you can't eat it they just don't want to bother planting it. Minimal landscaping, if any.
I do have one southern bred EV that I planted here 3 years ago and it looks great. I planted it on our first bed on top of our new septic tank (not the drain field) Sounds weird, but an inground septic tank produces heat, so I figured that combined with the great soil they brought in for backfill and the snow, I could get away with it. We had 35 below zero last year, and it looked great this spring.
So I think my best choice is to just try and see what will grow. I do select mainly dormant cultivars, but won't rule out others if they are strong growers. Means I get to choose new plants if my first ones fail...and that is not always a bad thing.
