On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:40:41 -0000, "Dave West"
wrote:

Beginners have just bought from Morrison's Supermarket: 4 Primrose (primlet)
in little plastic pots and 6 tiny bush Fuchsia (dollar princess).

We were intending to put them in pots on the patio. If we do this straight
away would they be likley to be damaged by any forthcoming frost?

If so, are we alright keeping them in the living room, well watered until we
are over the frosty season? Thanks.

I'm guessing that these will be plants in 9cm/3" pots.

The primroses should be ok outside - this is their flowering time. But
dollar princess is not the hardiest of fuchsias so they will need to
be kept indoors until risk of frost has passed. Unless you know for
certain that small plants have been grown in the cold, avoiding frost
is necessary for their first year - "hardening off" can apply to small
perennials just as for annuals. Supermarket plants often have been
grown/kept in less than ideal conditions.

The problem with fuchsias in patio pots is that in the winter, the
compost in them can freeze and plants die from the roots up or the
compost remains too wet and they rot from the top down. This variety
is better planted in the soil unless you have an (unheated)
greenhouse into which you can move them and keep them just barely
moist until the spring. Of course, you may intend for them to be
treated as annuals and discarded at the end of the season but this
would be a shame as they will improve and get bigger with age. After
their first season in the garden they should be covered with a layer
of mulch each winter.

Given that the living room will always be kept quite warm, if you have
somewhere cooler to store them it will be better - otherwise even in
May they may have a shock when you move them outside. Maybe a
conservatory that's not kept so warm? But not the garage as they need
light of course.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay where sometimes
it's raining and sometimes it's not.