Herbacious Perennials

[Rox]

Hi everyone!  I was at Lidl last week and bought some bulbs of the following autumn flowering perennials: Kniphofia Tritoma, eryngium and physalis franchetti. The packets say they should be planted immediately (I bought them last Thursday before the Easter hols) I noticed yesterday that they seem to be sprouting in their packets    Is this normal? The problem is that I don't know exactly where I want to put them in the garden, especially since we'll be doing some patio-building work in the coming weeks. Would it be okay to plant them individually in small pots in the meantime before putting them into their final plsces (be it large pots or the ground). Does anyone have experience growing these in big containers? If so, any advice would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks in advance!!       

[Marianne]

I have no experience but think it would be OK to plant your bulbs in pots.

Although Kniphofia can get rather large.  I believe that planting them in pots is better than waiting as you say they have all started sprouting !

Good luck with them!
 

[Palustris]

I agree. We always plant this kind of purchase in pots before planting out. Use a John Innes No 3 type compost.

[aquilegia]

I don't have those plants, but whenever I buy anything new, especially bare-rooted plants, I always pot them up for a few months before planting them in the soil. That gives them a chance to grow a bit before they have to suffer my clay!

[Tulipa]

When my Mum moved into sheltered accomodation she passed on all her pots to us and amongst this was a kniphofia which was very happy in a pot.