Posted By High Country Gardens Content Team on Jan 9, 2017 · Revised on Dec 16, 2025
Most perennial plants enter a natural state of dormancy during winter in response to cold temperatures and shorter daylight hours. Dormant plants often arrive without visible stems or leaves, but they are very much alive.
Dormancy is a survival strategy, not a problem. These plants will regrow from healthy roots and crowns once soil temperatures rise and daylight increases in spring.
Some plants wake early. Others are famously late. All dormant plants shipped by High Country Gardens are carefully inspected to ensure they are healthy and ready to grow.
This guide shows what dormancy looks like, when growth typically appears, and what (if anything) you should do while waiting.
These plants die back to the ground and regrow from crowns or roots.
| Plant | What You’ll See | When Growth Begins | Helpful Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Agastache Hummingbird Mint |
Bare stems | Mid-spring | New shoots emerge from the crown. |
|
Asclepias Milkweed |
No top growth | Late spring | Famously late to wake. |
|
Liatris Blazing Star |
No foliage | Mid-spring | Check for a woody corm. |
These grasses remain dormant until soil temperatures rise.
| Plant | What You’ll See | When Growth Begins | Helpful Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Andropogon gerardii Big Bluestem |
Brown stems | Mid-April | Growth starts at the base. |
|
Schizachyrium scoparium Little Bluestem |
Dormant clump | Mid-April | Warm soil triggers growth. |
Woody plants lose leaves but retain living stems.
| Plant | What You’ll See | When Growth Begins | Helpful Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Prunus besseyi Dwarf Sand Cherry |
No foliage | Mid-spring | Blooms before leaf-out. |
These plants may not grow until early summer.
| Plant | What You’ll See | When Growth Begins | Helpful Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Zinnia grandiflora Prairie Zinnia |
Sparse growth | Early summer | Avoid watering until warm weather. |
