Question
I live in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. I will be moving sometime this month and would like to take my perennials with me. the temperature right now is between 2 or 3 degrees centegrade and maybe -10. There is about 6 inches of snow on the ground. We will probably be getting lots more snow and colder weather but we never know it may stay warm with little snow. I'm  not happy  to be moving but I'm very upset to be losing my perennials. I have day lilies, oriental lilies, asiatic lilies, moonbeam coreopsis, lots of iris and hostas. Is it possible that I could dig up the roots and store them in peat moss or soil and store them in the basement until spring. Do you have any suggestions.
Thanking you in advance
Debbie

Answer
Hi Debbie,
Thanx for your question.  Many people will caution you against moving plants in the dead of winter but I've done it many times with little or no bad side effects particularly with the varieties you mention.  Day lilies and iris are sooooo tough.  So are hostas.  I don't think you'll have any trouble with the other lilies other than they may not bloom this season but they'll certainly send up green growth.  If you can work the soil, I say put them back in at the same depth and then heavily mulch it with hay until right before your last frost.  By the way, I took a driving trip from just outside Boston, MA to Halifax in June of 2000.  Very beautiful country.  Wish I could have seen more of Nova Scotia. Maybe some day.  I hope this helps.
Tom