Autumn’s leaves have fallen, the garden is looking bare, and those pots of bright blooms in the supermarket look terribly tempting. Should you … or shouldn’t you?
The case for buying potted bloomers
Potted flowers will usually stay bright and blooming for longer than a bunch of flowers. With luck your potted bloomers will give you colour and cheer right through the winter months.
Place your pots by a sunny windowsill (most potted bloomers prefer sunlight), keep them moist and give them diluted liquid plant food every three weeks. Follow the instructions on the fertiliser bottle or packet as a guide, but add twice as much water. Most potted bloomers are in pretty small pots, so it’s possible to “burn” the roots by giving pot plants too much tucker.
You can even plant most potted bloomers out in the garden when they’ve stopped flowering or even before if you want an “instant” bed of beauty. But do check to see if they are perennial — living for years or decades or even longer — or annual, which means they’ll go to seed in spring and then die.
Primulas are annuals; polyanthus can struggle to survive another year or two but usually don’t; pansies can be short-lived perennials in good conditions but again, will probably die when planted out unless your thumbs are particularly green.
You may also find your climate is too warm for bulbs to bloom again, unless you put them in the fridge to chill for six weeks.
Potted zygocactus, on the other hand, will live and bloom despite extreme neglect for decades. Just water when they start to wilt and potted African violets will delight you for years, as well as provide leaves to give to a friend so they can grow their own, too. Just plant the leaf stem in African violet potting mix and keep moist.
Potted orchids will bloom for decades if you put them outside in dappled sunlight (no frost) and keep them moist, though they may not bloom every single year, and probably not the first one after flowering indoors. But don’t throw them way — just find them a sheltered nook by the shed or on the edge of the patio, and water when you remember. You may be delighted by a giant stalk with a head full of blooms emerging in a year or two.
The case against buying potted bloomers
Many potted flowers for sale now will be at their absolute prime — the flowers are open and totally tempting. But that also means they may be past their best in a week and, as mentioned before, some of them may die completely come spring. Potted bloomers are also much more expensive than potting up your own seedlings or bulbs.
It’s really a matter of weighing up how much happiness you’ll get per dollar — and how many dollars you have to spend. If money were no object I’d fill the lawn around my study with potted cyclamen and primulas just now — a gaudy clash of many colours is exactly what I need. On the other hand, I can mooch down the path to admire the red and pink nerines I did remember to put in this summer and enjoy their beauty instead.
Just remember, if you buy potted bloomers now check what sort they are. Consider whether they’ll bloom again next year if you keep them or plant them out. Give them a sunny spot, water and tucker to keep them flowering longer. And next February or March think of the flowerless days of mid-winter and vow to make sure next winter is bright and blooming … cheaply, with flowers of your own.
