Geraniums are herbaceous perennials, so come back every year. If you've bought pelargoniums (often called geraniums), then that's a different story. Could you supply a photo so that we can see which it is?

Thank you. I just checked, it does say Geranium, Mixed Pallada on the back of the label. I'm just googling 'Mixed pallada', it looks like it might be a pelargonium as you say.

At that price, and at this time of year from Tesco, they'll be Pelargoniums, although they're sold under the name geranium, because that's what everyone calls them.

First, they should not be planted outdoors just yet - you need to harden them off first and really, summer bedding of this type shouldn't go outdoors permanently till mid to end of May, depending on how cold it is. So the best thing would be to pot them up into bigger pots and grow them on a bit, in a greenhouse if you've got one, or a bright, sunny windowsill in the house if not.

Regarding hardiness, Pelargonium geraniums will tolerate temperatures down to -10C - but only if they're dry, so technically, although they are perennials, in this country they usually die over winter because of the combination of wet and chill. This means that most people in the UK bring their geraniums in for winter - I don't, but I'm in London and they're just left under shelter to keep them as dry as possible outside, huddled against a warm wall, and apart from 2010 (that cold winter) they've always come through.

Many thanks to you both. I was planning on keeping them in the conservatory rather than planting them in the back garden. So hopefully they should survive the winter, fingers crossed!

Being ancient (that's me not the plants) and coming from the country, I remember my Mother actually drying them out, out of the pot, and leaving them on a shelf and they seemed to tolerate even that! Mine I leave in the pot, lay them on the side and just bung them in the back of the barn, and throw some paper sacks over the top and most usually come through! This year I forgot some and they are all sprouting from the base - but it was mild!

Thanks, it's good to know that they're quite resilient!