SPRING is now in full swing, but the weather can still catch us out with frosts! By the end of the month we should be frost free.

You can harden off any tender plants by placing them outside during the day but bring them under cover at night.

Any bedding plants you’ve purchased which are destined for hanging baskets and patio containers, plant them up with a good quality tub and basket compost and add water retaining gel and a slow release fertiliser.

This will give your arrangement the best possible start.

The planted pot or basket can then be hardened off as described above whilst still putting on growth.

Summer bedding plants don’t all have to be Petunias and Marigolds!

As well as the more common bedding plants there are a huge range of annual bedding plants you can grow for height, scent and colour, from Cornflowers and Sweet peas to Rudbeckias and Salvias.

Bernaville Nurseries at Cowley, near Exeter, is open Monday to Saturday, from 9am to 5pm and from 10.30am to 4.30pm on Sundays.