Taking chances...

I think they will be fine Jagienka....as long as you remember to give them a drink and an occasional feed. It is like they are in containers. I hope it works for you, it sounds like a good plan!

I think they might do better in planters Jagienka, but...saying that, when we first moved here last year I bought 15 roses with me which were originally cuttings I had done the year before and the ground in the front garden where they were going was exactly the same as yours. We put loads of bags of multi purpose compost in , plus bags of composted bark and the roses look absolutely beautiful ! If you looked at my blog from last year, I too had to use a hammer and crowbar to find a planting hole ! You know what they say...where there's a will...there's a way ! lol. I hope they survive !

Cottagekarer - yes, I have to remember to water them during the dry days, but most of the year that should not be a problem, with the amount of rain we get.

Rose1949- I'll be keeping an eye on them to see if they settle in fine. If not... off to the store selling cheap c%#p from China I will go and purchase larger pots ;) Lets just hope there's no more lovely plants on sale anywhere! I am running out of space. May need bigger borders next year... shhh... don't tell my OH, he's terrified of me mentioning yet another 'little project' in the garden which HE ends up digging, moving or putting together!

I'd love to see photos, I'm intrigued.

I saw a plant at Lidl's yesterday and thought I'd look it up when I got home to see what it liked and by the time I got home I'd forgotten what it was. I wanted to know if it would come again year after year or just last one season.

I think it started with an 'O' and looks like a really big coffee colour daisy. I'm just going to go back and get it I think, it was only £1. They had peachy coloured ones too but I liked the brown one better. Hope there are some left when I get back...

Fifegarden - have you tried lidl website? I am pretty sure the special offers are different in UK to what we have here in ROI.
It may be a good idea to check the www.lidl.co.uk website.

Oh, hang on... I just had a quick look there and YES, the offer is totally different. the plant you talk about could be the Osteospermum (with a name like this I don't blame you for not remembering, it is a bit of a mouthful).

That's the very one!! Thank you! I recognise the name now that I see it again.

So, am I right in thinking that I'll only have them this year and they won't come back next year?

Osteospermums aren't hardy, but they are perennial I believe, so you could try overwintering them indoors. There is a hardy one...O. jucundum, which has purple flowers. I managed to overwinter a couple in my greenhouse one year, and they are also easy to get cuttings from. Lovely!

There are some hardy ones, I have one growing and its been in the ground for 4 yrs now. I do take insurance cuttings just in case.

Maybe I'll get a couple anyway, and see how I get on :)

Yes! Give it a go! If we get a mild winter, it will be ok.

As we had a mild winter here , mine all over wintered outside ! I would always have these in my garden and there are so many lovely colours now Fifegarden.

They'll be fine. In my parents' garden they grew through the tarred driveway and all along the house wall. They're very Pretty :)

I think they'll be fine too. I see your problem...we had the same with our gate wall, but we filled up the holes with gravel.

Thank you all for the encouragement. The 3 wee plants seem to be doing fine so far. The rains have come so we'll see how good the drainage is there. Fingers crossed they do well there.