I did a cutting of fuchsia one year, and it grew, but it never really got very full, just leggy and tall. Maybe if you did several cuttings, you could grow yourself a full basket come spring. New Guinea impatiens did great via cuttings for me, and they grew VERY big. My dad took some babies of wax begonias that were self seeded in the fall and they did well for him. They were the healthiest and biggest ones the next spring!

If you are not picky about coming true from seeds, I've started impatiens (busy lizzies) from seed on a windowsill in late September, and they are huge now. What's great is that the plants I've overwintered do not need full sun to grow, so they are happy to sit on a windowsill and grow during the winter.

I agree with Wax Begonias. Someone gave me a hanging pot of them 4 years ago and I overwinter it every year. I take cuttings from it throughout the growing season and trim it back and take it inside when frost threatens. I place the pot in a large dish and set it in a bedroom next to a small lamp(with a compact flo bulb)and rotate it occasionally. The leaves get a bit smaller and it doesn't bloom, but makes a nice bushy houseplant through the winter. In the spring I take a few cuttings and then start to harden it off. I change out the soil if needed. I keep it on a shepherds hook on the east side of the building so it gets morning sun/afternoon shade and it does very well there.

Thanks both of you for the info! Love hearing what others like to keep over the winter. Great to hear the NG Impatiens did well, as I wanted to get one for a pot. I once tried some small kind inside but they shriveled up? Could be that the basement was too chilly for them.

Do you think other kinds of Begonias would do well overwintering indoors too? I have been eye ballin' the Rex and 'Bonfire' begonias and would love if they did as well as your Wax begonias.

Anyone ever try Petunias inside? I'm sure it seems silly, but I just got a 'Pretty Much Picasso' and would love to keep it..
CMK

Annuals are many times perennials in the right zone. I over winter a few of your 'annuals'. I find Pretty Much a very nice robust petunia. Do you have it teamed up with a good complimenting plant? It faded in too much sun here. I love it close up but it blends into the background from any distance.
The biggest problem with overwintering is vermin. Next year I am going to NUKE everything. Aphids and spider mites and you can't wash the plant down. They spread in close quarters. In the open I have to maintain organic because I also winter over a population of Anna's hummingbirds who will stick their beak in anything. Plants do get several washings before I can put them outside.
The second problem with second year 'annuals' is that the stems get woody. Plants need to be renewed. I have second year petunias and calibrachoa with woody stems. In the spring you can take cuttings and start them again. Petunias and cali like the early spring weather and will take a light frost. Angel face Angelonia, biden, diamond frost euphorbia, torenia, cane begonias, wallerana impatiens and some ferns. You can leave tuberous begonias and wax begonias in a pot and let them die down like a dahlia. My wax begonias die down in the frost and pop back up in spring.
The third problem is size. A small root system doesn't make it. You need an established plant.
Fuchsias do great with no foliage in above freezing environment waiting for spring. They like an eastern exposure in summer. When I up size their pot I put a little bit of soil on the bottom of the new pot. I put the plant in and cover it's woody stem a few inches. Pinch them as they start to leaf out to get a bushy plant.
I have a unheated greenhouse and a three season porch. My greenhouse goes to outside temperature, below freezing (*30?) but I put everything on the brick floor. I like insulated pots or heavy ceramic so the soil doesn't freeze on the dips.
I am careful to not over or underwater. Too little gets freeze dried roots, to much, rot. Some plants need light and some don't.
I team up plants too. The lime and the diamond frost share. The mandevilla and the double impatiens share. I got started doing this because I couldn't reliably get a 'to die for plant' I had the summer before. I have three 22" pots of Raspberry Blast Petunias to put out for my entry. If I hadn't save it I would have had to use mail order. We are in very different zones but I figure your inside is much like my inside.
I am starting some plants now for next year. they will be a nice size by fall without being too old. Also make sure you trimmed them up early in the fall so the plant has time to recover and will be the right size for bring in. Plants like diamond frost and calibrachoa will die if you trim them before they restart in spring. It's a dirty business, good luck!

I over winter all sorts of begonias, canes, rex, shrub, and little waxes. Geraniums are easy. I have some baskets of fuchsia that are 4 yrs old now, and lantana that are 5 years and huge bushes in 6-8 gallon pots. Coleus can winter inside, but its better to take cuttings, than to save the whole plant. Anything that you can grow from cuttings can be saved. Do some snipping in the fall and try whatever you want. If they get leggy, just take a cutting from the leggy plant in Feb and they will be ready for planting out in spring. I have heard of people even doing this with tomatoes.

One way to have a wide variety of annuals and as many as you want without the cost is to wintersow them. Check out the FAQs over at the wintersowing forum. You don't have to fool with lights, watering over the winter, limited space, and fighting aphids etc. For the cost of the seed pack and a little soil (and using recycled containers like milk jugs and salad containers), you can grow healthy plants of lots of annuals and perennials, herbs and vegetables. And with seed swapping, you often won't need to spend more than postage for seeds, although a lot of annuals may not breed true for colors.

For example, this year my wintersown annuals include two varieties of coleus, silvery blue stocks, straw flowers, trailing, three varieties of sweet williams, trailing lobellia, anagallis, two varieties of morning glories, petunias, several species of impatiens, zinnias, tomatoes, shelling peas, celery, bok choy and a bunch of herbs as well as many perennials.

The only ones that don't work are annuals like some of the coleus that are only vegetatively propagated.

Alternanthera (coleus' "cousin")
chenille plant
mandevillea/dipladenia (messy, dropped leaves)
ruellia (mexican petunia)
strobilanthes (persian shield)

Don't you just LOVE streptocarpella?!!

Tons & tons of coleus. Gave up on trying to bring in the plants, just leave cuttings in water on a windowsill.

Wow, thank you so much everyone for the great ideas.

-peggiewho, wonderful tips! Sounds like you overwinter a lot inside ;-) I do have a couple questions...do you like to repot with fresh dirt then, before bringing them in? Do you sterilize the soil? I DID have a problem with ahpids on a lemon verbena. So you wash plants before bringing in too?? Do you wash with anything in particular or simply rinse with water?
Thanks for the info on Pretty Much Picasso petunia. The green tips DO seem to blend into the foliage a bit, but I have been wanting this one awhile and love odd colors! I put it in one of my terra cottas (big one) and seeded some Nicotiana 'Lime Green' at the back, Talinum (jewels of opar) on the right, and Nemophila 'Penny Black' in the front.

-mandolls, so pleased to hear the Rex Begoinas do well inside. That is just what I was thinking of doing- taking cuttings of the coleus in fall instead of lugging the big plants in.

-kimka, I did seed some petunias and Rudbeckias in jugs last week (got a late start!). I've done winter sowing before, just not with annuals. We will see how they do! ;-)

-purpleinopp, awesome!! I have been wanting one of those Persian shields. I do adore the streptocarpella. I even grew it a number of years strictly as a house plant, taking cuttings every few months as it got woody. Loved it last year in a pot with lemongrass!
Thanks again to everybody for the input!
CMK

CMK, all of the plants on your list are perennials (some are grown AS annuals), which helps make them candidates for wintering indoors. Your primary limiting factors will be the amount of light and the humidity levels.

I've always kept a big pot of the purple shamrocks going, and have found that they need lots of the strongest light you can find when moved inside. If you've been growing them in the full sun outdoors (which I do), you may find that they'll just collapse on you after a few weeks. If so, cut them all the way back to the ground and let them regrow inside.

I agree that dealing with the critters can be a challenge. You can't dose your plants with certain pesticides and then bring them inside where people and pets live. So, learning how to evict crawly critters ahead of time is important. Ants can be a problem. So can centipedes and millipedes, worms, spiders, aphids, mites, and scale insects.

I always have a pot (or two) of calendula indoors just for variety. Adds color to my shelf of houseplants.

I have taken seed from cosmos in the fall after the first hard frost and planted them indoors and gotten some blooms but they never seem to survive the entire winter.

This winter, I had fewer casualties because I used shop lights to light the plants that don't go dormant.

Success with:
fuchsia triphylla
begonia Dragon Wing
zonal pelargonium
tradescantia pallida
trailing coleus
heliotrope

Dead and composting:
upright coleus
ivy pelargonium
blue milkweed
chili pepper
probably several others I've blocked from my mind ;-)

Shabby but only mostly-dead:
cordyline Red Star
ornamental sweet potato
dwarf abutilon
helichrysum Limelight
variegated ginger

Slept all winter and waking up now:
canna
dahlia
hymenocallis (which didn't bloom but multiplied; I'm giving them a second chance before I ditch them)
brugmansia

And I wintersowed 81 containers this year. :-)

Edie

"Annuals" (actually tender perennials which most "annuals" are) that I wintered over last year in a west facing window with no supplemental light or humidity:

Coleus
For o'clock
Pentes
California poppy
Mandavilla
Euphorbia
Hot lips salvia

and another dozen or so.

While quite surprising to many, I have grown jalapeno peppers for 4 seasons - same plant - by over wintering in a basement under lights.

In my experience, it is always worth a try. Virtually ALL "annuals" are not annuals.

Some really good info here. Normally I take cuttings of newer growth, and dunk in neem/DE solution.. instead of overwintering the entire plant since imo the pest carry-over issue is the worst part of indoor growing. This season i tried some chocolate ghost chilies in lrg paint buckets and they did very well outdoors so i'm going to overwinter them, scared of what pests will show up from it though. I have a few cubanelle plants too in the greenhouse for winter. Curley Parsley, kale, lollo rosa lettuce, and fennel in containers in greenhouse, if those count! Also got perennials along with those.

I have a few Dusty Millers left overs that were grown from seed and never planted. I will be bringing them in.

I tried to bring in Impatients but they were a lot of hassle. NOow that I have grow stands and lights, I might try them again this year. If I could only get them to grow slowly without rotting...

Hi CMK,

"This year I plan to get only (will a few exceptions ;-) those annuals that can be overwintered easily indoors or started easily (and come true) from saved seed."

Most of the responses have been to "overwintered easily indoors" and not to "started easily (and come true) from saved seed."

With respect to annuals that start easily and come true from saved seed, I would suggest all of the Zinnia marylandicas, which include the Profusions, Zaharas, and Pinwheels.

Portulacas (Moss Rose) will come true from seed, and since they will self seed freely, you won't even need to save the seeds.

Actually, the issue of "not coming true from seed" doesn't apply to a lot of annuals that aren't F1 hybrids. When the seeds in your seed packet came from a field of those annuals, there isn't any reason why you shouldn't do what the seed company did, namely save seed from them to sell to you.

ZM

"Portulacas (Moss Rose) will come true from seed, and since they will self seed freely, you won't even need to save the seeds."

I think this is the case for P. grandiflora, but not P. umbraticola.

geraniums!!!! They are the PERFECT plant. Barely any pests, dont wilt easily, can take cuttings of any of them to make more plants, very easy to overwinter, etc. I LOVE them. I have a goal of getting one of every color!

I always figured it was "Gerania" (:

I have 12 large and 6 hanging planters of Gerania that line my terrace Spring to Fall , 6 small potted (and two 3' pots) of Yucca trees, 3 potted Clivia, two fig trees, Red and white shrimp plants, 3 hanging Spider Plants, A pineapple, Pony Tail Palm, and a rubber tree plant. April - October, I have no "house" plants.

Are bulbs fair claim for this thread? 10 Elephant Ears and 8 Caladia. Many years ago, I neglected to bring in Gladiola bulbs. They have survived winters outside ever since.

I am in the process of getting my living room, laundry room and kitchen back....

I am in zone 5, learned last fall you can overwinter Gerbera inside. I tried it, now have a crimson one that's getting ready to flower (it also flowered on my sunny windowsill periodically) to which I added a lovely orange one I'll bring in as well this fall.

This is a wonderful thread. So many ideas to share. Just bought a bullseye geranium and really happy to know that I can keep it alive indoors.

@ridgetop01 guess I will try my luck with gerbera daisies once more. Love the beautiful flowers. Anybody had any luck with calibrachoa and bachelors' button?

I started gardening 3 years ago and found it really hard to let the beautiful annuals die. So started bringing them inside. My living room and a bedroom gets atleast 4 hours of direct sun throughout winter, but lack of humidity is a challenge. The first year I brought a vinca, a zinnia, a gerbera and the container of Indian hot chilies that I started from seed indoors. The vinca, zinnia and gerbera succumbed to dryness very soon (I can't think of any other reason). But the hot chili did wonderfully inside. The chili plant is still alive and thriving after 3 winters.

That winter I started many annuals (both ornamentals and edibles) from store bought seeds. The flowering ones were petunias, portulacas, nasturtiums, marigolds and 4 o'clock. I started vinca and zinnia from saved seeds. All these are very easy to start indoors.

I find zinnias really amusing as they can surprise you with unique colors (the seed from a pink zinnia resulted in a beautiful coral zinnia). The nasturtiams and marigolds started from seeds remaine true (mine is a balcony garden and I suspect there is little or no cross pollination). Gradually I realized the portulacas reseed generously and so I don't save the seeds anymore.

I continue to bring in as many annuals as I can and each year the numbers just keep on increasing. I place the plants real close to each other (that helps with humidity). So far I have successfully over wintered the following plants in my sun lit rooms:

Colocasia (loves the indoors and grows rapidly)

Jasmine (this one continues to flower indoors)

Malabar spinach

Hot Pepper

Ginger

Petunias (need good amount of humidity)

Amaryllis (not exactly annual)

Tube rose

Tropical hibiscus

Some herbs

I have started many new kinds of plants this year and after going through this thread I'm hopeful that many will survive the winter.

Happy gardening everyone :)

A few years ago, I actually potted up and brought in a few Iceberg lettuce plants. Entertaining at best however, maybe it was an effort in futility.

Last year I was negligent and let my lettuce to to seed. I piked the stalk and tossed it into my compost. (Well, more like a scrap heap, not really compost.)

I see lettuce growing there an along my driveway where, I guess, the seeds washed out of the mess.

Imagine, first Dusty Miller, now lettuce. I think I will set seed out in the fall to see it it takes.

P.S. Did you know that Ice burg lettuce was on the menu the night the Titanic sank?