You can plant them any time the ground is not frozen. Only accept plants from a similar or colder climate. Plants from the South should not be planted in the north in the Fall. They won't harden off properly. If you plant in the Fall, mulch very well. Keep the mulch away from the trunk of the plant but make sure it is thick over the roots so they don't get frost heave. Ideally add a heavy layer of mulch after the ground freezes.

Goofy, these plants had this problem about a month ago, when it was cold and we were getting lots of rain. Then when we had that week or two of 80-degree weather they straightened out and greened up. In the past week we've got more rain and again they look funky. I hadn't fertilized until last week, so although that could be the current problem, it couldn't be the cause of the situation last month.

Update, six weeks later. The tree doesn't want to go on the cart... Red arrows point to one sucker branch and one sucker bud(?). Purple dashed line is what I believe to be the graft scar. Green arrows point to what I hope are new growth above the graft. These appeared all within the last week; maybe due to the days getting longer, maybe due to a few degrees rise in temperature inside as some other inhabitants were running fevers. I have read on this forum that sucker branches are usually not desirable. Are they worth letting grow for a while, if they are the only source of active chloroplasts on the tree? My hunch is yes, but I admit knowing very little about the regrowth tendencies of Meyer lemons. My next question is whether the old branches are actually dead,or whether they have some hope of rejuvenation: Most of these branches used to be green, but are now brown or near black. Some show hints of green near the branch collar. Is it worthwhile to prune back branches which look brown, if that might encourage growth from the same collar? Or do brown branches ever return to green, and it's worthwhile to wait? Thanks, all!

Thank you for the advice! So there are no tubers to save though. They have been dead so long they were hollow upon digging. All I have is some shoots that popped up before the tubers died that I've made into cuttings. The cuttings are doing well indoors under a 1000w grow light and in controlled heat. Three of them I started back in July are about 30 inches tall so far. and when they get big enough I'm going to set them outside in the mild winter weather we get (50 degree days, and 20 degree nights) and let them tuber up, then store them to grow on the right schedule next year. So keeping them alive inside isn't a concern for my set up. I basically turned my basement into a greenhouse because the weather here is so terrible and the growing season so short. My main question was about what size of stalk is too big to become a cutting, not "too late" as in season. Most all the stalks that popped up stopped before they were 4 inches big and only had two or three leaf sets. This one in particular came up about 3 inches, then got snapped off by hail. Then it grew two new stalks on each side of the break that got to about 4 inches tall each. I wasn't sure if that was too big to reproduce or not. Or if I should have taken each stalk individually? We had an early snow that forced me into action so as of right now it is potted up all as one with the two stalks attached to the main one and the main one in the dirt. I have a couple of ideas on why my tubers failed and what to adjust next year. I don't have a big issue with drainage or the soil staying wet. I just worry about the bottom of the 24 inch tall bed draining because of the clay underneath. But the top 6-8 inches I regularly dig into to check. It can get a good deep soaking and then be bone dry 6 inches down two days later. And after a soil test at the local college I can say for sure the nitrogen levels are actually low, so no way they got burnt there. The soil I bought for my raised beds was pretty depleted and all the organic matter I used was composted before adding. I have three living tubers out of almost 20. One is outside and struggled with the heat but is doing well (Shiloh Noelle). I probably won't get a flower this year but I should have tubers to divide. The two other tubers that made it were the ones I moved inside right away to experiment with. They got the same level of moisture to their soil as the ones outside so I know I wasnt overwatering. I moved inside a tuber from a different seller, who I got most tubers from this year, at the same time and it rotted in the same conditions. Which makes me wonder HARD about the possibility of a fungus causing the dry rot. The soil PH was also higher than it should of been and I'll be adding acidifier to the beds before next season gets going, I'm sure that didn't help. I think they mainly failed because most of June had 60 degree nights and 110 degree F days, and they weren't shaded, causing a lot of stress. There is also ZERO rainfall except maybe a sprinkle once every 6 weeks or so (and a surprise hail storm one night). The shade cloth canopy I added late wasn't doing enough on its own for the young guys and I should have ignored certain advice and mulched after they popped up to keep the soil cool and moist. I do have high hopes for next year as the indoor ones are doing so well I'm convinced it's the elements and not me.