Holding off on planting until after Mother’s Day is the general rule of thumb, but the weather and that date varies from year to year.

“That’s mostly true for annuals. You want to wait until we’re done having frost, and around here that’s around Mother’s Day, but you have to be careful,” Ann Brickner, with the Perennial Plant Peddler, of Findlay, said. “It’s always risky if you plant before the frost is done.”

Her husband, George agreed.

“If you have them hardened off and they are used to the cold weather, it will be all right. Most, including us, we dig our perennials in March and April and have them in the greenhouse. So they are not hardened off to take the frost, that’s why we don’t start selling them until around Mother’s Day,” George said. “You’re looking at May 6 to 10 for the last time for a frost, in a usual year.”

The Perennial Plant Peddler specializes in daylilies and hostas, with 783 of the 854 registered daylily varieties and 188 of the 199 varieties of hostas in the gardens are for sale. They are open May 6-Aug 27. This is their last year before retiring.

They recommend watching the weather reports and take precautions if a frost seems likely.

“If it’s a bulb you are planting, you can plant those. They are probably not going to be coming up for several weeks anyways. They have to get acclimated and start growing roots before they are going to start pushing tops. So you can do that earlier in the year and get away with it,” George said.

He also said that most of the bulbs would be planted in the fall.

“If you are going to have a severe frost and you have something you just planted, you probably should give it some protection. It could be as easy as setting a bucket over it, or if it’s bigger thing you can go to a nursery and buy a real thin and light material,” George said.

They do that for their strawberries, so the frost doesn’t kill their blooms.

The key for the protection is not damaging the plant in the process.

Schooner Farms, in Weston, specializes in lavender, selling several different varieties, most of which are grown on their farm. Some extra varieties will be brought in for their annual sale, which is April 30 and May 1.

In addition to the lavender, the sale will have several herbs, including varieties of basil, rosemary and mints, as well as other perennial plants.

“There will be several unique herbs brought in, but we won’t know exactly until we get to that week,” Don Schooner said.

He said the Mother’s Day rule also applies to herbs.

“The Mother’s Day rule applies to any annual plant, but perennials can be planted sooner than that, but annuals don’t like the possibility of even a light frost, which can damage those, so it best to plant them after the week of Mother’s Day,” Schooner said.

The further north you get in Northwest Ohio can make a difference.

“The actual date is May 20,” he added, for Wood County.

He laughed about the snow on Monday.

“Oh yeah, that would knock them right out. If you had your annuals planted outside now, they would be toast,” Schooner said.

He just shook his head.

“Some might make through and be burnt on top,” he said, hesitatingly. “But most wouldn’t have survived that.”

Schooner recommended that plants purchased the first week of May be kept in a well lit garage bay, or under an overhang.

In reference to his sale, he said “Perennials can be planted right away, annuals would be something on which to wait. Tender perennials, treat them like annuals. Some types of rosemary and lavender you have to be a little careful with,” Schooner said. “Basil doesn’t like any type of cold at all. It will turn black quickly. The fleshier the leaf, generally the more sensitive it’s going to be.”

Schooner Farms also sells the lavender extracts, which they distill on-site, available for purchase in their expanded gift shop.

The Perennial Plant Peddler is an official Display Garden of the American Daylily Society. The Brickners urge people to come and enjoy the gardens. Many people come several times a season to just walk the gardens to see the colors emerge and change throughout the summer.

Schooner Farms can be reached at https://www.schoonerberries.com/ and at 419-261-0908.

The website is https://www.pplantpeddler.com/. They are open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and by appointment, which is popular among collectors who are looking for specific varieties. The phone number is 419-387-7230.