I had made up my mind earlier this summer that I would try to overwinter some of my perennials. Now that the weather is starting to change, I am wondering what is the best way to do this. I want to keep several pots of lantana, mexican heather, and osteoporum in my unheated garage if possible. If that isn't warm enough, I can always bring them into the house.
Would I be better off taking cuttings, rooting them, and then potting them? If so, I need some simple directions on how to do this. Or, would it be better if I dug up some of the plants? The problem with digging them up is that they are monsters because all of them have spread so much - this is actually the reason why I want to keep these particular plants. All these of these spread wonderfully, and bloom like crazy in my garden.
Any comments appreciated.
Overwintering tender perennials
Good question. I too would like to try this , Just waiting for a response from some one who has tried this successfully .
All three of those that you mention will stay evergreen if they're in a climate that they're hardy in, so if you dig them up and try to keep them somewhere, I think putting them somewhere that they'll still get light would be the best idea. If the garage would keep them from freezing you should be fine from a temperature standpoint, they can all handle light frost. But in the garage you'd still need to find some light for them, so in the house may be better.
Cuttings would work fine too--the risk there is since it sounds like you're new at doing cuttings, they may not take and then you won't have anything. So for this year, you may want to both try the cuttings and dig them up, then if you have success with the cuttings, you know that next year you can just do that and don't have to dig the plants up. For help with cuttings, you should go to the Propagation forum, lots of good tips over there.
Gardengus,
Here is a link from the propogation forum that I found to be helpful.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/597232/
i second ecrane as far as the cuttings are concerned....to me lantana was a bear to root; i can do coleus cuttings all day...but lantana are hit or miss....i brought mexican heather in my sunroom with grow lamps and it tanked ....the osteo i have never grown so i can speak about that
Sticks,
I've never done it before, but I'm going to try in about ten minutes. I just have to read the directions again that Critter gives. I think that I'll do at least a half dozen of lantana, and the mexican heather just in case. The osteosporum is really an annual, so I probably will just leave that alone - that will give me more room to plant annuals in next year.
Osteospermum is just as much of a perennial as the others--they're all annuals in your zone but perennials in some of the warmer zones. Not saying you have to try and propagate it or save it if you don't want to, but it's not any less of a perennial.
pennefeather,
If your MH don't make it, you can have all mine next spring that I've been unable to eradicate. Yours for shipping. Just send me a reminder.
Maggie
my neighbor put her pot of lantana in her basement last year. she gave it water about once a month. It was a very large pot. when she brought them out this past spring, she thought she had lost them because they had died back completely. But she saw a little bit of growth finally... and they were really huge this year! So, I am going to do the same thing to mine this winter.
Last fall my brother dug his lantana up and potted it. I grew it in my basement under lights and basically it just sat there all winter. But it really took off at his place the next year.
Fantastic idea, I'm going to try this with my lantana as well.
I have brought in the pot with lantana and also thought, by the end of winter, that it was a goner but it sprang to life and grew better than ever.
I brought in my lantana and a 'homestead' verbena last year, potted them up and put them in the garage on a shelf and watered them once a month or so and they came back this year much to my surprise.
I'm going to do it again this year, too.
Good to hear. I'm going to try it with several plants.
I am in 6b and I have the purple verbena that grows around my Koi pond. It was growing wild in the field so we moved it to the house and it does great, I don't do anything to it. Maybe it stays warmer since it is east of the pond on the bank but I don't even mulch it.
my verbena comes back in Spring (but I'm warmer 8b) to my delight. Love this forum, it is reminding me all the time to bring that darn lantana in!!! lol, it's getting about 46 at night, and it still looks ok, but I should gather some up soon.
My lantanas come back every year and I don't do anything but cut off the stems when they die. I am just a couple of zones away, so I would suggest you might cut the lantana back so that it will fit under a pot and just cover them where they are planted for the winter? I think it might work and would be less work for you. Here is one of mine that is about 4 years old. I cut it down to about 4 inches when it gets brown. We do get freeze, but I think the fact that all my lantanas are against walls or near rocks, keep them just warm enough.
Good idea, I may try that this year, putting them under a pot.
Planting by a rock or something is bound to help also. Mine unfortunately is planted on the north side of a huge rock instead of the south side.
My lantana has come back every year for 20 years!
Sounds like my ex brother-in-law!
Quit bragging yard queen. LOL We'll all want to move south to your house for the winter. Have you got a lot of guest rooms and of course yard space for our plants. LOL
Maybe we could all just send down our lantanas to winter over in Texas!
That's a good idea!!! What's your address yard queen? Do you have a preference on color that you want to overwinter for us? LOL
LOL Pirl...
That is cute!!!
Ok, actually I probably do have the room, but I have never seen if it will come back if in pots. Mine is in the ground. If so you will have to bring them and plant them yourself cause DH is tired of digging holes!!! LOL
As for color I have the Confetti, and yellow.... I may have white also ( a trailing one) and I usually don't have trouble doing cuttings... But I put a clear dome over them.... I can do it without that but It is a little more reliable with it.
Anyway, I have been rooting anything that breaks off when I deadhead.
If you put the lantana under a pot, how will it get enough sunlight to survive?
That is what I was wondering, but then realized that they are just dry sticks in the winter. But I don't cut mine back and it sprouts new growth all along the stems except the ends and I cut them off after it has done its thing.I guess to get it to fit under a pot you would have to cut it down if it is large.