'Festival Mix' Geranium & Potentilla

Planting advice for your potentilla and geraniums:

• On receipt, soak the roots in water for at least two hours (overnight is better). If you can't plant straight away, they should be fine for up to a week if left in a cool, dark, frost-free place - keep the bag around the roots moist on the inside. Don't worry if the roots have been cut quite harshly - this is done to encourage the plant to grow.
• Select an appropriate spot for your plants, making sure that you give them enough space to grow to their full size. Dig a hole twice the width of the roots, forking over the bottom to loosen the soil, and add some good quality fertiliser.
• Aim to plant at the same depth as the soil mark on the stem. Holding it upright in position with one hand, slowly backfill the hole with soil, and gently shake the plant, so the soil falls back around the roots. Use your heel to compact the soil around the plant to ensure good contact around the roots.
• If you're planting into pots, use the best compost you can buy - our Premium Professional Compost mix is particularly good - and some sand or grit to aid drainage. You are again aiming to plant to the depth of the top growth bud. Firm down as you fill and press down hard with your hand when the pot is full.

Aftercare Advice for your bare root potentilla and geranium collection:

• Water the plants weekly - especially in dry weather - for the first 8 weeks or so. When the soil and air warm up from late March onwards, you should see the plant burst into life. Do not allow plants to dry out in the first year after planting. Once established for one season, they will become much more tolerant to a lack of water, as the root system develops.

Pruning Advice for potentilla and hardy geraniums:

• Plants can be tidied by trimming back in autumn when they have finished flowering, or as necessary in the summer if they get leggy and unmanageable.