April does whatever it wants… Watch out for night frost!

If there have been a few nice days in March and April, it sometimes seems as if everyone heads to the garden center for beautiful summer-blooming plants… But be careful with annuals, because these plants aren’t hardy! It would, of course, be a shame if all your new plants were damaged or even died after just one night of (ground) frost. Still, you really do need to keep in mind that this is still a possibility in April.

Wait until after the Ice Saints

Of course, it’s best to wait patiently until after the Ice Saints (mid-May). There’s a good reason why this time-honored advice is still given. Starting around mid-May, the chance of frost is negligible. Unfortunately, it seems to be happening more and more often that by that time, sellers of summer-blooming plants have almost no bedding plants left, because they started selling them so early.

Did you end up buying some summer-blooming plants after all? Keep an eye on the weather forecast!

As a stopgap measure, it’s perfectly fine to buy annuals early in the season, but be sure to place them in a sheltered spot for a while if there’s still a chance of nighttime frost. By the way, it’s obviously not normal for these plants to be blooming as early as March or April… that’s a whole different story. Such plants have been started in a greenhouse and are particularly sensitive to cold and frost. It’s better to choose bedding plants that aren’t blooming yet but can still grow well in the coming weeks, so you can enjoy their spectacular blooms this summer.

Protect exotic plants and plants that are less hardy

What applies to bedding plants, of course, also applies to non-hardy plants and exotic plants. You may even need to cover them if the weather suddenly turns colder than expected. Have you already put your exotic plants and container plants back outside? If so, pay extra close attention to the weather forecast! Bring container plants indoors if there’s a chance of (night) frost.