Soon as you like Eileen! As long as the ground isn't frozen.
And welcome :-)

Thanks Beatie, I think I will enjoy talking to you all.

You're welcome Eileen! I'm glad I found this website too.

i have just come back from my garden club and just a point which they made,might help. don't forget to stand the plant in a bucket of luke warm water first for a while and then acclimatise slowly to the outside temperature,this plant would have been in the supermarket and warehouse for a few weeks and putting it straight out into cold soil will shock it,then you may have lost it. hope that makes sense.

Personally I would not buy outdoor shrubs from a supermarket. They do not have the knowledge to take care of them properly nor do they want to. If the shrub has been sitting around inside a supermarket for days/weeks you will need to harden off like any other plant.

I buy them quite often, knowing that they don't have the quality of a plant from an expert nursery, but they're a fraction of the price. They sell tough varieties as they're easy to propagate and I find that they usually take, given a very ordinary standard of care.

Hi Eileen - welcome to GOY - due to lack of funds my mother used to buy most of her garden plants etc from a supermarket and they always turned out all right, so the very best of luck with them.

Happy Gardening !

I haven't had trouble yet from any of the plants I have bought from a supermarket. I usually do buy from a proper GC, but sometimes things catch my eye in the suermarket.

I'd reiterate plantmaiden's point - best to harden them off. Presumably they're the ones in a small pot with a clear plastic outer and a card to say what they are - stand the whole thing outside in the shelter of a wall or similar, during the day for a day or so, then, on a night when it's not too frosty, leave them out, still in their packets. Then remove the packets the day after and leave them to acclimatise, moving them further away from the wall's protection - should take about a week or 10 days to do this, then plant them out.

I buy mine from a supermarket too, they are great value, I have just purchased a beautiful crab apple and it is covered in dark pink blossom, also we purchased a pear tree, both cost £5. you cannot grumble at that price, they can be planted as soon as the ground is workable.

Never had one fail from a Supermarket yet,but as said above,its how you care for it when you get it home,that is important..a bit of TLC goes a long way,and if the 'price is right' and it looks healthy,go for it...Good luck,Eileen ...