Should I plant out my perennials?
QI have some lovely young verbena, leucanthemum, laurentia, echinacea and achillea grown from plugs. Should I keep them in the greenhouse over winter or plant them out?
Janet Patchett, Lincolnshire
AI like your idea of your overwintering the stocky young potted perennials in your greenhouse. Hopefully, it is heated, otherwise temperatures will drop to near zero.
If it is not heated, drape your charges with fleece when very cold spells are forecast.
Ideally, construct a frame for your plants. Then, when you cover them with fleece, the material won’t touch the leaves and possibly damage them.
Transplant the perennials next spring, in April or May, when the soil is warming nicely and the threat of hard frosts has passed.