Can you leave bulbs and plants in the ground all year?Updated 8 months ago

It depends on whether the plant is hardy, half hardy or tender and also your soil type.

Most spring bulbs are fully hardy and should left in the ground all year round, usually they need the cold period outside during winter to grow correctly in spring. Some spring bulbs are half hardy, such as ranunculus and some anemone varieties. Half hardy bulbs are usually fine outside planted in a free draining soil and in a sheltered garden in areas where temperatures don't typically fall below around -3 to -5C. In colder areas, it's safer to start them in pots so that they can be moved under cover during periods of very cold weather. 

Summer bulbs and plants are more variable, some are hardy and some are tender. Summer bulbs which are tender, such as dahlias and begonias, need to be lifted in autumn around the time of the first frosts, cleaned, dried and stored in frost free conditions for winter. Hardy summer bulbs like crocosmia and nerines can remain outdoors over winter. 

You can check in the plant specification on each product page whether a plant is hardy (to around -15C), half hardy (to around 0C to -5C), tender (no lower than 0C) or tropical (no lower than around 10C). 

Most perennial bulbs should remain in the ground all year round. Perennial varieties will return year after year where they were originally planted. You can also relocate them while they’re dormant, either in late spring or early autumn.