Raspberry canes arrived but ground frozen! What do I do?

[juslh]

Hello
I am in my first year with my allotment, and have ordered some seeds and the like. They have all arrived which is fine but so have the raspberry canes I ordered. I suppose I kind of assumed they wouldn't be sent out so early, especially if conditions were bad. What do I do with them or have I just wasted them by ordering in the middle of a cold snap? Thanks for any advice.

[Scarlet]

if the forecast for your area to be very cold/fozen ground etc for a while (they should last for a few days in their packaging) pot them on in some pots and keep them in a sheltered area.

[Kristen]

They'll be happy (in pots with some compost around their roots,a s Scarlet said) in the dark - as they haven't got any leaves at this time of the year. So a frost-free shed / garage is fine, until the soil is ready for planting.

Don't dig (and prepare) planting holes and leave them open - the cold will get into the sub-soil and it will take the plant a lot longer to get going. If you prepare the holes and aren't able to plant then back-fill the holes and reopen them when you subsequently plant them.

[starloc]

They will be fine as long as you keep them cool until you can plant them

Mine have been in a cold room for a couple of weeks, I am not planting them for another couple of weeks, I have done this many times before.... they will be fine! as long as I soak them before planting

[rhyswales]

They'll be happy (in pots with some compost around their roots,a s Scarlet said) in the dark - as they haven't got any leaves at this time of the year.

Mine have leaves Take it it's not normal to have leaves yet ? =/

[starloc]

Some of mine i planted already a few weeks ago have leaves and they are outside in the light and cold

Inside in a dark room the canes I have still bundled up, some have buds opening and inside the rootball loads of shoots with leaves starting

[Kristen]

Mine have leaves Take it it's not normal to have leaves yet ? =/

Milder over your way, or they have been stored in a Mega Store with heating which has broken the dormancy

They won't mine being in the dark for a week or so, provided it is cool, this time of the year. If there is a window, providing lousy light even, that would be better, but not essential.

They'll all be getting into leaf in a few weeks time though ...