September is the month to start thinking about what plants in your garden you would like to overwinter inside your home. It's also the time to bring any houseplants in after spending their summer under the stars. It's best to get plants inside before our nights get too cold. Don't wait for the first frost to bring them in. Give plants time to adjust to indoor temperatures and humidity.
Sometimes in late summer I get so excited and want to save more plants then space allows. Now I ask myself the following questions to narrow down what makes it inside for the winter.
1. Is this plant worth overwintering? By that I mean can I easily find this plant in a nursery next spring or is it my prized begonia that I spent all season caring for.
2. Is this plant expensive? If it is then yes I want to try to save until next spring. If it was only a few dollars, maybe there is not enough room for this plant.
3. Is it healthy? Does it have an insect problem? If you know a plant isn't healthy, don't waste your time bringing it indoors. You don't want disease or insects to spread to the rest of the bounty that made it inside.
4. Do I have enough spots in my home with good light to overwinter all these plants? If your plants don't have the correct amount of light, they will struggle and become weak. This will make plants more prone to disease and probably won't be that healthy come spring time.
5. Is this plant going to be too much work to keep alive? I don't like plants that drop their blossoms and leaves and cause me extra house cleaning all winter long.
Once I have decided which lucky few are coming inside, I do the following. I check each plant. Cut off any dead or damaged leaves. Wash off leaves or give the entire plant a shower, looking closely to make sure no insects are coming in to spend the winter. After the plants have dried from their cleaning, I sometimes spray the plant (don't forget under the leaves) with an organic insecticidal soap to help insure nothing is getting a free ride into my home. If the plants stay in their container, no additional fertilizer is added at this time. If I am potting up a new plant from the garden, I add just a touch of fertilizer to the potting soil. I don't want to see a lot of new lush growth. I simply want them to live until I can get them back outside in the spring.
Water the plants as needed, and most inside plants do better if kept on the dry side. I like to water my houseplants in the kitchen sink in the evenings. I fill the sink with an inch of water and sit the pots in it. Watering this way, from the bottom up is better for the roots and helps keep the top of the soil from getting too wet, which reduces fungus and potential gnat problems. Once water is absorbed and the pot feels heavier, I pull the sink drain, leave the pots in the sink for a few hours or till morning so excess water can drain out of the pot.
Be careful where to place your plants. Most don't like extreme temperature changes. Make sure if you put a plant on the windowsill, that it doesn't get too cold at night or too hot during the day. Avoid hot spots like radiators.
Sometimes for extra humidity, I place a large saucer with small stones underneath a plant. Pouring water into the saucer adds humidity into the air. Caution, make sure the saucer does not form condensation on the bottom and damage a windowsill or furniture. I have done that, and it isn't pretty. I now own a collection of different types of metal trays to protect my wide windowsills. Pretty plants on pretty trays just makes me happy.
I do bring a lot of plants into my home over the winter. My sometimes odd plant collection is one more way to decorate my home during the long winter months. Give it a try and bring a little bit of nature into your home this winter.
Marie Meiklejohn, owner of Marie's Garden in Skippack, Pennsylvania has been gardening for over 25 years. The last 16 years at her property in Skippack where Marie's Garden is located. Many of her gardens showcase what she grows and sells each year.
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