This month brings an end to the growing season. But there is a way to continue gardening with herbs and annuals in your home through the falland winter months. If you don’t have the time or desire to move plants indoors, you can freeze or dry herbs instead. Either way, your family will enjoy the pizzazz your own fresh herbs add to your favorite foods. Fond of the special variety of begonia, coleus, or geranium you purchased this year? Why not spare them from the inevitable by bringing them indoors for the winter? Once inside, they’ll reward you with cheerful color in the depths of winter.
Herbs
Given enough sunlight and warm daytime and cooler nighttime temperatures, many of our tender and perennial herbs can be overwintered in your home. There’s no need for a greenhouse, grow-lights, or heated mats; a sunny, preferably south-facing windowsill will provide all the light the plants will need. You’ve got to act quickly, though, since for most herbs you’ll need to accomplish this task early in the month before a killing frost arrives. Two exceptions are parsley and chives, which are more tolerant of the cold and can be brought in later this month.
If the herbs are growing in the ground, dig up a clump, shake off as much soil as possible to reduce the possibility of bringing pests and diseases into the house, and pot them up using a commercial potting soil. If you grew potted herbs this year, you’re already a step ahead. Transition them indoors by placing them in a sunny, covered porch or breezeway for a couple of days before bringing them inside. Even though they’ll be undercover, be sure to monitor the forecast for frost warnings just in case. Inspect potted plants for aphids, mites, and white flies before bringing them inside to avoid contaminating your houseplants. If your herbs are in plain plastic pots, consider repotting them in decorative glazed pots or time-worn terracotta to spruce up the kitchen’s décor.
The easiest windowsill herbs are:
- Parsley
Once indoors, they’ll need only adequate amounts of water and sunlight. You can stop fertilizing them until spring, like all houseplants. You can also give them an occasional light shower to wash away dust from their leaves. Since we’re on the topic of herbs, this month is also time to plant garlic for next summer’s harvest. Fortunately, the best time to plant garlic is after a hard frost, by which time your herb and annuals projects will already be complete.
Flowering Annuals
A couple of generations ago it was common for people to overwinter several kinds of annual flower plants, bulbs, and corms. Today, most people simply go to the garden center and buy new plants every spring. However, by overwintering your annuals you’ll benefit from larger plants, at no cost to you, the following spring. Given today’s economy, perhaps we’ll see a resurgence in interest in overwintering annual plants as a part of living more frugally.
There are a few different overwintering methods, the simplest and easiest being the one preferred by my father: bring the window box of geraniums inside and place it in the sunroom. Next spring, cut the plants back and put the window box back outside. This method works satisfactorily with wax begonias, petunias, nasturtium, verbena, and lantana. Remember this short list is only a guide and gardening is about experimenting, so try a plant that’s not listed. You might be pleasantly surprised with the result. Annuals for indoors include:
- Geranium
- Wax Begonia
- Coleus
- Nasturtium
- Impatiens
- Petunia
- Verbena
- Lantana
Last winter I salvaged my potted geraniums by bringing them into the cellar and placing them in front of an east-facing window. Occasionally, I rotated them to balance their growth as they reached toward the sparse amount of light coming through the window. I kept the soil somewhat moist to dry (at times you may forget about them, as I did). They sported an occasional flower, which was welcome, suffered the loss of many leaves, but came through just fine, leafing slowly but fully in the spring. My method is a first cousin to the old-fashioned way, which is to remove the geraniums from the pot, shake off all the soil, remove the leaves, and hang the plant upside down in a cool, well-ventilated space, such as an unfinished cellar. In March, the plant can be potted and placed in a sunny window to grow once again. But if you want to multiply your favorite geranium or coleus and get a jump on spring growth, cuttings are the way to go.
Stem cuttings can be made as far back as August, but can also be made early this month. First, make sure the plant has had adequate moisture and is not wilted. Break or cut stems about three inches from the tip. Next, dip them in rooting powder and stick them, several to a large pot or clean six-pack, in mason’s sand, vermiculite, or perlite and fertilize at half the recommended amount for full grown plants. When the roots are an inch or two long, transplant the cuttings to individual pots and place them in a sunny window.
When the arrival of cold nights spells an end to your neighbor’s garden, you’ll be content in having saved a bit of your garden for a flavorful or visual treat.
Once indoors, they’ll need only adequate amounts of water and sunlight. You can stop fertilizing them until spring, like all houseplants. You can also give them an occasional light shower to wash away dust from their leaves. Since we’re on the topic of herbs, this month is also time to plant garlic for next summer’s harvest. Fortunately, the best time to plant garlic is after a hard frost, by which time your herb and annuals projects will already be complete.
Flowering Annuals
A couple of generations ago it was common for people to overwinter several kinds of annual flower plants, bulbs, and corms. Today, most people simply go to the garden center and buy new plants every spring. However, by overwintering your annuals you’ll benefit from larger plants, at no cost to you, the following spring. Given today’s economy, perhaps we’ll see a resurgence in interest in overwintering annual plants as a part of living more frugally.
There are a few different overwintering methods, the simplest and easiest being the one preferred by my father: bring the window box of geraniums inside and place it in the sunroom. Next spring, cut the plants back and put the window box back outside. This method works satisfactorily with wax begonias, petunias, nasturtium, verbena, and lantana. Remember this short list is only a guide and gardening is about experimenting, so try a plant that’s not listed. You might be pleasantly surprised with the result. Annuals for indoors include:
- Geranium
- Wax Begonia
- Coleus
- Nasturtium
- Impatiens
- Petunia
- Verbena
- Lantana
Last winter I salvaged my potted geraniums by bringing them into the cellar and placing them in front of an east-facing window. Occasionally, I rotated them to balance their growth as they reached toward the sparse amount of light coming through the window. I kept the soil somewhat moist to dry (at times you may forget about them, as I did). They sported an occasional flower, which was welcome, suffered the loss of many leaves, but came through just fine, leafing slowly but fully in the spring. My method is a first cousin to the old-fashioned way, which is to remove the geraniums from the pot, shake off all the soil, remove the leaves, and hang the plant upside down in a cool, well-ventilated space, such as an unfinished cellar. In March, the plant can be potted and placed in a sunny window to grow once again. But if you want to multiply your favorite geranium or coleus and get a jump on spring growth, cuttings are the way to go.
Stem cuttings can be made as far back as August, but can also be made early this month. First, make sure the plant has had adequate moisture and is not wilted. Break or cut stems about three inches from the tip. Next, dip them in rooting powder and stick them, several to a large pot or clean six-pack, in mason’s sand, vermiculite, or perlite and fertilize at half the recommended amount for full grown plants. When the roots are an inch or two long, transplant the cuttings to individual pots and place them in a sunny window.
When the arrival of cold nights spells an end to your neighbor’s garden, you’ll be content in having saved a bit of your garden for a flavorful or visual treat.