Thoughts on bare roots

Subtitle: or what happens when I hit Lowe's in a spendy kind of mood  : )

I was out this morning to Farmer's Market and Hobby Lobby, and left both with nothing.  I went on to Lowe's, needing snail bait and manure.  Sigh. 

However, they had their veggies out and with it being so nice and warm I went ahead and picked up tomato plants, a new artichoke plant, and some parsley.  Then I cruised past the bareroot racks and added Lily of the Valley, potatoes, and Lady Fern.  I also picked up a second hydrangea paniculata just because mine looks suspiciously dead, having apparently been trod upon.  If I am wrong, some lucky person will get my new bush.  : )

So about bare root, pros and cons.  The biggest reason to do bareroot is because you can find things that would otherwise never be available here, like that hydrangea, and the Lily of the Valley, and the fern.  Sometimes you save significant money with bareroot, but not always.  Today a jasmine was offered bareroot for $5, a small tiny stick of a thing.  On the other hand a potted 2 foot tall ready to bloom plant was $7.  The downside of bareroot is their size.  I have found it helps a lot to put them in pots for a year and get a good root system going before planting them in the ground. 

So, my work for the next couple of days is planting out the new plants.