When to plant out bedding plants - Experts say you should wait until May to plant flowers
BEDDING plants are fast-growing or already grown flowers placed alongside others in a border or bed for a seasonal display. When is the best time to plant out your bedding flowers?
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Summer is just a matter of weeks away and bedding plants promise an easy way to create a beautiful floral border around your garden. However, because bedding plants are often tender it is important they are not planted out until the right time.
When is the best time to plant out bedding plants?
Bedding plants often go on sale from March onwards, but this is not necessarily the right time to plant them out.
In fact, even April could be too early to pop your flowers into a border.
Although the days may be warmer and sunnier now compared to a few weeks ago, planting out your bedding flowers too soon could be detrimental to your border display.
This is because bedding flowers are not frost hardy, which means any risk of frost could kill them off too soon.
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Instead, you should wait until the risk of frost has fully passed before planting your flowers outside.
According to Sunday Gardener: "Most areas of the UK are frost free by the end of May, which means, although it is tempting to plant out earlier, it is best left until May."
They warn that even in southern parts of the country where the weather is slightly milder, sudden frost can arrive and cause severe damage to plants.
If you do wish to bed your plants a little earlier, the experts recommend covering with fleece or cloche.
Sunday Gardener adds: "Knowing if a plant is fully frost hardy or not will also help when selecting plants for the garden."
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Which plants and flowers are suitable for border plants?
According to the RHS, bedding plants are usually chosen from half-hardy annuals, hardy annuals, hardy biennials, half-hardy perennials, half-hardy or tender sub-tropical plants, hardy perennials or shrubs and bulbs.
Half-hardy annuals are plants that complete their lifecycle in one season. They are generally grown from seed indoors and then moved outside, and include cosmos, nemesia, marigolds and tobacco plants.
Hardy annuals - such as Alyssum, pot marigolds, Iberia and Limnanthes douglasii - can be sown outdoors directly into the soil and flower in spring, as they are able to withstand frosty spells.
Hardy biennials complete their life systole in two seasons, and include plants such as Alcea (hollyhock), Dianthus (sweet William), Erysimum (wallflower) and Myosotis (forget-me-not).
Half-hardy or tender sub-tropical plants are often used to create a focal point for flower beds. Succulents, for example, can be a great addition.
Hardy perennials add flowers and foliage right up until winter. They can include ornamental grasses or Erica (winter-flowering heather).
Bulbs are often mixed with biennial bedding plants to add a pop of colour to borders and beds in the early months.