Start them in the pots - then, when they're well away - get them into the garden.

Lots of yummy compost. Well-drained soil and reliable water. Sunshine. And back of the border because they grow to be Rather Large. You'd need a tub more than a pot to grow them well.

Remove in autumn and keep frost free then do as you did and pot up for getting them started in spring.

(G candicans gets to be around 4' high and has generous leaves, too. Not a shy plant...)

One of my favorite and most reliable bloomers here. It is too early in the year to expect flowers. My patch is over 10 years old and about 3 feet in diameter from a single bulb. For several years I have been saving seed and growing them to bulbs to give to friends, which is how I got my bulb. My soil is well fortified with compost, but I have never used fertilizer. Our temperatures seldom fall below 25 degrees. They make sturdy stems which never require staking. Al