How to help your outdoor plants flower

Whether you’ve got a tropical oasis, a whimsical cottage garden or a collection of pots on your patio, you’ve probably picked at least a few plants for their flowering potential.

Top tips for encouraging plants to flower: 

• Make sure your plant is supposed to flower. This may seem obvious but it’s actually an easy mistake to make. You should get information on the seed packet or with the plant that lets you know what (if any) blooms to expect. 
• Give your plant enough light. Most plants like at least three hours of sunlight a day, but some want an endless summer and need six or more hours. 
• Protect your plant from the other elements. Not all plants can handle frost. Windy spots can cause damage to your plants and too much rain might make your plants temperamental.   
• Showering your plant with love is not always the answer. We know you care, but overwatering won’t make your plant happy.

As a rule, you can expect most of your plants to flower in summer or spring. This is when Mother Nature tends to offer up the best growing conditions with that perfect combo of the right temperature and enough sunlight.

If you’ve noticed lots of leaves on your plants and new growth coming through, flowers probably aren’t far away. After your plants have flowered for the season, give them a good prune so they’re in peak condition to produce flowers again next year.

Generally you won’t get year round blooms from a single plant. You can, however, mix and match a variety of plants to give you flowers all year.

Vinnie the cyclamen will flower throughout winter until early spring, so planting a few in the shadier spots in your garden means you can still enjoy bursts of colour while other plants are sitting out the cooler months.

Sometimes gardening needs to be a long game - many plants won’t flower until they’ve started to reach maturity.

This means it may be a few years before you see your first blooms on some of your plant choices. Trees in particular may not flower until they’re three to five years old.

Pruning is an essential step in encouraging healthy plants. It’s very easy, but you need to do it the right way. Some plants flower on last year’s stem growth, while others need to be cut right back. Check your plant’s care guide to find out if, when and how your plant likes to be pruned. Make sure you remove dead flowers and foliage regularly to keep your plant happy and healthy.

Fertilising your plants regularly in spring and summer is a great way to keep them healthy. Look for a good quality fertiliser that has the “big three” nutrients you need for flowers - nitrogen, phosphorous/phosphate and potassium/potash.

It’s often the things you do outside of the flowering season that sets your plants up for success. Winter can be tough for flowering plants, so consider moving pot plants indoors or protecting your outdoor plants from the cooler temperatures. If you get this right, you’ll have a healthy plant that delivers bursts of beautiful colour in your garden during its peak season.