Digging & dividing perennials.

Now is the perfect time to dig and divide perennials. Most plants, but not all, are likley poking thru the soil with this unusual warm weather. Digging and divding or moving is best now because there is little top foliage if any. Very little stress is on the plant when it does not have the top growth to support. Some root systems will pull apart with a little gentle twisting, others can be safely cut apart. Some perennials that are tap rooted like Baptisia, Asclepias and some mints should not be moved unless it is a very young plant. It's easy to destroy tap rooted plants by cutting thru the root. The majority of your perennials will be 'fiberous' root systems, the easiest to divide. Do not be greedy and divide any plants too small. The root systyem should at least fill a 3-4" pot. The smaller the plant, the greater the margin of error is.  Yesterday, I dug, divided and potted nearly 300 plants. Not bad for 4 hours...like a machine!