Lots of tropical garden plants can move indoors for the winter instead of losing them to the cold.
Not every type of garden plant will overwinter well indoors. “There are many plants produced for our summer’s use as ornamentals in containers or gardens. They fall into two groups,” says Byron Martin of Logee’s Plants for Home & Garden, a Connecticut nursery specializing in rare and tropical plants. “One group is made up of annuals, like zinnias or marigolds, and the rest are perennials, usually tropical perennials. So, when winter comes outside, they die off,” he says.
Houseplants
For example, most houseplants, from philodendrons to hoyas, are tropical perennials, Martin explains. If you’ve moved any houseplants like this outdoors for the summer, they need to come inside before the cold arrives or they’ll die. The same is true for many plants you may think of as a summer annual like begonias or geraniums.
Lighting
Providing direct bright light, either on a sunny windowsill or via supplemental artificial light, is key, Martin says. The short days of winter reduce the natural light indoors significantly.
Though the plants may not continue to flower indoors, your goal is more to sustain their foliage and root system through the winter. They’ll be in a near-stasis of slow growth during the winter. For any plant you want to bring inside, research the air temperatures, humidity, and light the plant needs to survive.
Selecting Plants to Overwinter
Hancock has successfully overwintered many types of tropical plants, even through long Midwestern winters. Here are a few that he liked to keep indoors until spring:
- Angelonia (Angelonia angustifolia)
- Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia)
- Arabian Jasmine (Jasminum sambac)
- Coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides)
- Eucalyptus
- Flowering Maple (Abutilon)
- Geranium (Pelargonium hybrids)
- Mandevilla
- Oxalis
- Passionflower (Passiflora)
- Pentas
- Persian Shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus)
- Tropical Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)
- Vinca (Catharanthus roseus)
Some plants are easier to overwinter than others. For example, coleus, geraniums, succulents, abutilon, sweet potato vine, and begonias are among the easiest. More challenging plants such as jasmine, tropical hibiscus, and mandevilla require lots of light and consistent warmth that the typical home may not provide.
Source: bhg.com
Photo credit: Marty Baldwin
Related: Bringing Plants Inside for the Winter – TUTORING YOU
