To plant or not to plant?

In a fit of fall exuberance, I went to the nursery Sunday afternoon and bought a bunch of pansies and bulbs for my garden. Perhaps my judgment was impaired by the warm sun while I raked leaves on Sunday afternoon, but I knew that even though I have been travelling and neglecting my garden this fall, it isn’t too late to plant pansies. I made my purchase, planning to plant today, after the plants had a few days to harden off on my front porch. Unfortunately, when I made my purchase I didn’t realize that a winter storm was headed our way. So now I face the dilemma, to plant or not to plant?

If I was confident that we would get several inches of snow at the start of the storm, I might go ahead and plant, because pansies are hardy and the snow would insulate them. However, often our pattern of storms involves more cold wind than snow, so I have decided not to plant yet. Yesterday I was going back and forth on my decision, wondering if I should plant half and keep half in the garage. Then I decided that I was over-thinking the whole dilemma and I should just stick the pansies in my garage. Hopefully I will remember to water them; then I can plant them on Sunday, when the weather is supposed to moderate. I don’t want to skip pansies this year, because their cheery faces lift my spirits when they peek out between snow storms. I have a warm, south-facing spot by the sidewalk that has been perfect for pansies for many years, so hopefully they will get rooted into the ground soon enough to survive.

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