Things easy to overwinter - plus how do you handle the bugs?

Hi all --

I wondered if you could provide me with your lists of plants that can come in and spend the winter in the basement. My idea is to wrap them in newspaper and put them in a box under a workbench...and plants that would handle that kind of treatment? No? Okay, then what *can" I do - the less work the better. Oh, and how do you handle the bugs? Can I douse them in October with some sort of Killzall for bugs and have it work until spring?

Thanks,
Suzy

It might be easier if you let us know which plants you need to overwinter, and people can comment on what the appropriate conditions are?

Hi ecrane! I don't have many plants...yet. I wanted to buy some, or start some from seed, that I could overwinter. Not that I would buy them to overwinter, per se, but that I would buy them with the intention of trying to grow them over a period of years rather than a single season.

For instance, I once heard you could hang geraniums (pelargonums) upsidedown in the basement and forget them until spring. I swear there was newspaper involved, but maybe not. I tried it once and it didn't work. It was also a mess with the leaf drop. I think I missed a step, or two - cutting it back, for one. In any case I know dahlias and caladium, probably other tenderbulbs. I just wondered if there were any perennial plants that we in the north can't grow except as annuals. I guess I was expecting a list, or several lists, by different members.

For the second part about the bugs: I have a star jasmine outside (not hardy here) but WFF sells them for a lot of money in the dead of winter as houseplants. Mine hasn't bloomed for at least a month, but I think they are known for winter bloom. If I dig it up, cut it back, pot it up, and bring it inside, all the bugs will come with it. Isn't there something I can do with it so the bugs and eggs don't come with it?

The thread before this one gave me the idea that I could do this (the first part - tender perennials). I'll lose the screen I'm typing on if I go back and try to read the subject line, but the information about overwintering wasn't the main topic of that thread. I just wanted to hear more about it...so I thought I'd start a new thread. Isn't that what you're supposed to do?

I realize this is the propagation forum, but I didn't see any forums for overwintering.

Suzy

Yes, you are supposed to start a new thread when you have a new question, I wasn't questioning the fact that you were posting this, all I was trying to say is that it's much easier for people to give advice if there are specific plants that you're interested in, and I had assumed that you already had the plants or at least knew which ones you liked and were thinking of getting. The other forums that you could try for some advice would be perennials and tropicals depending on the type of plants that you're interested in. Basically, pretty much anything that comes in the form of a bulb/tuber/etc can be dug up and overwintered (these are ones that could be kept in your box under the workbench if you want). If you want to grow tender perennials, if they're evergreen (meaning they don't die back to the ground every winter) then you'll need to bring them in, put them in pots and treat them like houseplants, you can't just put them in a corner and forget them. If they are herbaceous (meaning they die back to the ground each year) then I would still put them in pots (the roots are still alive so I wouldn't want to mess with them too much), but once they die back you can cut back on watering (I don't have any personal experience with perennials like this coming indoors, so I don't know if you need to keep them watered a little bit or if you can completely ignore them--someone on the perennials forum would probably know if nobody here does) If you're pulling stuff out of the garden and putting it in pots, I would shake off as much garden soil as possible and plant them in nice potting mix--garden soil is too dense and heavy and doesn't drain well in pots, so you need to use potting mix instead. Honestly, if you have a lot of tender perennials that you want to overwinter, it's a lot less effort if you grow them in pots in the first place, then you can just bring them inside. Or if you want them in the garden, maybe take cuttings instead and grow those up over the winter inside, then you have nice new plants to put out in the spring.

For bugs, when I bring stuff in for the winter I give it a good hosing off to dislodge any critters that are sitting on it, then if you want you could spray with something, but I honestly wouldn't do that unless you actually thought it had some sort of pest on it. As far as winter blooming though, if your plant is the one most commonly called Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), it is not a winter bloomer so you won't get flowers again until late spring/early summer which is when it normally blooms. The winter blooming jasmine is Jasminum polyanthum.

Thanks for the clear explanation. And dangit on the Star Jasmine! I must have bought it at the end of it's bloom cycle. I thought I was being very smart and clever.

Now I don't know if I want to overwinter it or just toss it.

Thanks, ecrane.

Suzy

If you liked the flowers enough that you'd want it again next year, then I'd probably try to overwinter it, that's definitely cheaper than buying a new one next year. I would check first though and make sure what plant you have--I don't trust common names at all so I would want to verify which one you actually have before you do anything. The ones that you see for sale as houseplants in the dead of winter probably are the Jasminum polyanthum, not usually called Star jasmine but the stores don't always label things right. (I know I see Jas. polyanthum for sale in grocery stores, Home Depot, etc in wintertime here).
Here's Trachelospermum, the one that's usually called star jasmine:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55230/index.html
And here's the winter jasmine, J. polyanthum:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1639/index.html
The flowers are very different from each other, so hopefully you can look at the pictures and remember which one looks like yours did when it was blooming

Definitely Trachelospermum -- but now I am too depressed. Did you see the size of some of those (real) Jasmine plants? They were as big as Junipers! I need to move south of the Mason-Dixon line!

Suzy

Illoquin - For the pels, there's a few things you can do. First you can pot them if not already potted and treat as a houseplant giving lotz of good light and watering when dry.

Or, you can place them in a cool location with or without direct light. Water sparingly. Some people cut back, some don't. Some people put them in an unheated room where there are windows, some in closets, some in basements. I don't do this, but have heard about a cup of water per month while dormant.

Or, you can cut them back by about half and bare root them. Let the roots dry out a bit and hang in your basement. Mist the roots good at least once a month. Pot up in March and start giving water.

Or, you can cut them back by half and bare root them. Let the roots dry and store in a paper bag. Once a month take them out and soak in water for about an hour. Let the roots dry and place them back in the paper bag.

Yes, you are going to lose the leaves if you let them go dormant. What counts is whether they will start growing again come spring. Also, you need a healthy plant. If the roots are weak to begin with, for instance if you tend to overwater your pels, you might want to baby them through the winter. These really need to be kept on the dry side in the summer. A moisture meter is a good idea.

Suzy just remember that every zone has good and bad- so many things I can't grow here that you grow there!