Ready for summer – the balcony and garden are really blooming.

After winter, spring really makes you long for more. And once the first early bloomers have done their job as mood boosters, the big debut of summer flowers is just around the corner.

To make sure the balcony and garden start the summer in full color, timing is key when bringing the colors into play. And above all, of course, it's about the main actors themselves: the flowers.

Once the start of the new gardening season has arrived, many garden or balcony owners can hardly wait to get their hands dirty and bring fresh color to the garden and balcony. However, there is no exact time or date when balconies and gardens can truly start blooming again. A good guideline is the "Ice Saints" in mid-May. After these days, no more nighttime frosts are expected, and frost-sensitive summer flowers can be taken outside. But the point at which it no longer freezes at night varies from region to region and should never be generalized. If you're unsure, you can rely on the many offers in garden centers and hardware stores. At the start of the season, these stores offer a wide range of flowers, and when the flowers are available in specialty stores, there's no reason to delay planting your garden or balcony any longer. And for those who are still unsure and don't want to take any risks, the trained staff in the specialist stores can offer advice. With their expert opinion, you're always on the right track.

For those who can't wait, there's good news: before summer comes spring, and it also brings some colorful blooms. Plant pots and balcony boxes can be brought out of the basement or shed as early as the beginning of the year, dusted off, and planted. The most well-known and popular early bloomers for balconies and gardens are pansies and primroses. They bring a lot of color into play, not only marking the start of spring but also making you look forward to summer.
Many summer plants are sold while they are still very young and wouldn't survive possible frosts or low temperatures in the garden or on the balcony. Therefore, you can bring summer into your home before things fully kick off on the balcony or in the garden. This gives young plants the opportunity to develop properly and grow undisturbed before being planted outside. To ensure the plants are safe, the location in the house should be as cool as possible, since these summer messengers are not houseplants.

Summer flowers don't always have to be bought as young plants. A simple and surprising option is sowing summer flowers. But again, the right timing is crucial. If the seeds are planted too early in the year, potential soil frosts can harm the still very young plants, leading to a dish full of soil instead of a sea of flowers. For those who prefer flowers, sow the summer flowers after the ice saints or start them indoors.

If you start the seeds indoors and sow the summer flowers in peat pots or self-made seedling pots, you can plant the small plants outdoors in their pots, avoiding the need to prick out or repot them.

Beauty from the previous year can also be brought back outside. Geraniums and dahlias are also suitable for overwintering. In a protected spot in the basement or shed, these summer beauties can be stored over the winter and then brought inside in February or March. Once the ice saints have passed, the plants can return to the balcony or garden.