[simpson-allen]

Just recd my plants and canes from Thompson & Morgan (ordered thru here naturally) but aren't they a  bit early to go in? Had them in the bag they arrived in for about 3 days now because of the frost & snow. How should I store them until the snow melts. Should I at least take them out of the bag and maybe put them in water but keep indoors? Or can I still plant them outside regardless of the weather?

[Trillium]

Basically, both are very tough plants and can be planted out whenever it's convenient for you. But if the raspberries already have new leaves opening up, then you'd best wait for milder weather and keep the raspberries in a cool place until then. Keep the soil just slightly damp around the roots but never soggy or in a jar of water. Strawberries can go out anytime. I know that under the foot of snow in my garden the strawberries are already forming new leaf buds, they're such bruisers 

[simpson-allen]

Thanks a lot Trill. I take it you don't have particularly hardy plants bred especially for your parts do you?

[Trillium]

We have a lot of plants bred for our various temperature areas, primarily for the bottom line cold temp. we expect in winter. I'm in what is called Zone 4 and all the plants and trees I buy are hardy to -35C. Up north, where it's zone 3 and 2, plants must be hardy to -50 and more.
But a lot of basic fruits are very hardy because we get snowcover which acts like protective mulch. As for raspberries and strawberries, I don't think any low temperature will kill them