planting out perennials in Scotland

I have just joined the site, and would like to say hello to you all.

Just wondered what your advice might be on this one. I have lupins, delphiniums and foxglove, growing from seed for flowering next year.

I would like to get them into the garden around September, and forget about them, but should I?

Is it better to wait till March/April, when the weather here is still very chilly in Scotland, or do you think I can chance it in September when the ground is still reasonable?

 

Hi Summergardener.
Welcome to the site.
If you have enough of your flowers, why don't you put half out in the garden in September, while the ground is still warm, and keep the other half growing in pots,watering them when needed.
If you have a greenhouse with enough room, bring in the second half as winter starts drawing in.

If you lose any of the September planted ones you will then have back up plants, to plant out in the spring.

It is difficult to know what to do, as you can never tell what the seasons will bring.

You could always risk putting them all in in one go, and then if you do lose them, it is a case of starting again.
It depends on how much the seeds cost as oppossed to heating a greenhouse over the winter.

Hope this helps.
Good luck.

Kandy---Happy Gardening

 

Hi Summergardener, and welcome.
I think Kandyfloss is right, why not experiment. I have recently been reading a book by Christopher Lloyd. And been impressed by how often he said I used to do this and now I do that. It is clear that even with his knowledge he had been experimenting and changing the way he did things. You might even find an unexpected bonus that the ones left out flower at a different time from the ones left in pots - thereby extending the flowering season.

One thing that C.L. said was that he used to grow Lupins in spring, and some would make a half-hearted attempt to flower in the first year. I think he could not be bothered with that, so he later changed and sowed them in August for flowering the next year, treating them like a biennial.

 

I certainly treat lupins as biennnials. I have found that the second year lupin has a big flag on it saying "greenfly, cover me in the trillions". Better to be louped out than follow Alan Titchmarshs advice I feel.

 

Lupins and foxglove are absolutely 100% hardy and if they are big enough get them in the ground and the roots will be nicely established for autumn. Lupins are leguminous and don't like root disturbance as it interferes with the symbiotic bacteria from which they get some of their nitrogen so the smaller they are transplanted the better. I have hundreds of self sown lupins coming up like weeds in a garden after taking out old plants last year and they came through the winter we had no problem. Same with foxglove, just plant them out now and forget.

Delphiniums maybe need a bit more care so I would go the half and half route just to be on the safe side but I would plant out in mid August while there is still some warmth in the soil or wait until 1st week in May.

[ 06. June 2006, 10:45 PM: Message edited by: frogesque ]

 

Thanks very much for the advice. I have enough to experiment so I will try planting some early, and hold some back. I found your points about lupins and foxgloves interesting frogesque, so I will put some little ones in quite soon and see what happens there.