Hydrangea/Begonia

Good evening folks x in town today I bought this hydrangea (broken stem) and Begonia (flowers had fallen off) for £2 total. I am a bit of a mug like that, I buy all the broken, battered and unperfect plants because I feel sorry for them standing next to their very perfect counterparts in the shop. My question is - can I plant them outside now or is it still to cold - the thought of sticking them in the cold ground and they just give up and die after thinking that they have been rescued fills me with dread (yes, I really am this much of a nutter!) They will live in the kitchen with all the other misfits until somebody advises me............Thank you

 

Well done for rescuing them LyndaG. They don't look close to death do they. But, keep 'em indoors for a while yet - at least until the danger of frost has passed and the ground warms up . They won't like it too hot indoors but will be grateful for good light.
Good luck,
Jenny

 

Hi Jenny, thank you so much for your advice. They appear to be in good health. In this particular shop they sell "perfect" plants (for want of a better terminology!) and anything that gets damaged or marked etc is marked down to get rid of it. I've got loads of stuff there and it's all fine and eventually with some love and care looks just like the others. I've put them upstairs in the spare room which gets the most light and the heating isn't on, so hopefully they will be fine living there for a month or two! Thanks again and have a lovely evening x

 

A real bargain, the Hydrangea has been grown under glass to force the flowers and therefore would not take kindly to planting outside as the flowers would shrivle in the cold, best left until mid April, as Jenny has said but it will not flower again this year.
Your Begonia is the popular 'house plant ' Begonia, elatior and is not normally planted outside but if you did, not till the middle/end of May. It should flower through Spring and most of the Summer indoors (given a fortnightly feed, Tomorite or similar).

 

Hiya, thank you so much for this info. I will keep the Begonia indoors, I'm just a sucker for a bargain! Interesting to learn about the Hydrangea as well! I LOVE this forum! Thanks again.

 

Healthy looking bargains there, Lynda By the end of the growing season I reckon that hydrangea will almost double in size.

 

Fingers crossed - I love taking care of the plants (to the best of my ability!) and seeing them looking all healthy again :0)

 

Same LyndaG I love buying reduced plants in Tesco and nurturing them back to health.
Hope they stay healthy
Good luck