Sorry to say but for me, those plants were sown too early and their rather long stems will suffer from both wind and frost through the winter. So you risk putting energy into a lost cause – but difficult as you were given the plants.
I have not yet sown mine, finding that Nov 5th onwards is early enough. I would perhaps plant a few, and sow some seeds in the rest of the bed, which needs covering only if for example, rooks are around to pull up the seedlings.
