How late can I plant perennials for productive plants/flowers the following year?

by Alice
(Lawrence, Kansas)

How late can I plant perennials (flowers and shrubs) for a productive life in the following year?

I am starting some seeds - a range of flowers - and want to set them out to get a start for next year...

Many thanks!

Alice

Doug says it depends on the species you're planting but as a rule of thumb if you can get them large enough this year to survive the winter - they should bloom next year.

So there is no "date" but rather a general guideline that you need to be able to grow the plant (without force feeding it to make it soft and likely to die in the winter) to a large enough size.

That of course varies from species to species.