You are not alone, but you sure have me beat! I brought 13 in and left about 20 more that are full of annuals that I let go (frost) There is one SUPER heavy ceramic behemoth full of house plants that I dread every year. I keep saying that I will cut back, but it hasn't happened. I like my colorful, huge ceramic pots. They are all sitting in the kitchen on a tarp until I drag them to the basement.

I just counted them: 43! Am I nuts?!

===>>> the simple answer.. YES!!!!

you asked

ken

I did talk to someone on these forums last spring who said she/he took in over 50. That's my cut off point, for the future. If the only thing left in some of them after the begonias go dormant are ivies and spikes, I may tansplant all of those to one pot. But then again, maybe there is no point. They are already in.

No you are not nuts. I have about sixty (60) annuals and tenders overwintering inside. Cannas, Coleus, and Pelargoniums are the predominant collections of the whole.

Some people have collections of house plants. What is the difference between those and overwintering tenders inside? Now if you want to see some serious plant overwintering you should check out Christopher Lloyd's 'Exotic Planting For Adventurous Gardeners'. They seem to overwinter hundreds of tenders at Great Dixter yearly, even big cactus!!!

As for saucers...I keep the plastic lids off of various containers. Cottage cheese, sour cream, deli cartons, etc. Those work pretty good and are easy enough to toss into the recycle bin when it is time to haul them all back outside next spring! I had a lot to cram on one table downstairs, so I found one of those big plastic totes that bed spreads/comforters come in from the store to nestle my plants on.

Who will be laughing next year at the ol' nursery cash register having to fork over some major dough for annuals AGAIN when they could have easily taken ten minutes in fall to pot up the things they will be wanting again the next year anyway.

I say good for you in saving all of your annuals!!! That means we can use what we would have spent re-buying all of these annuals for those brand new perennials we 'just have to have' right??? You gotta' love girl math ;-D
CMK

That's a good idea with the lids. I drink a lot of coffee, I could get a lot just from those. For the most part, it's big or deep saucers I need. I just bought a package of foam dinner plates, but I need something yet wider for a lot.

I have some 3 year old ivies that are incredible, lush, overflowing specimens by now. I grew a pair of spikes in big planters on my front porch for about 5 years: they were 3 feet tall, and there was only 2 feet to walk in between them, but the time I decided they were TOO big, and it was time to replace them with a pair of red cordylines I had ready.

I usually add things to these planters, but this way as soon as I haul them out in the spring, something is there until I get a chance to buy the fill ins. I usually have a color scheme for each area, and it can take me a while to assemble everything I want.

I have caladiums in many of these, which have gone dormant. I need to dig them up and store them, but I have not had luck with that so far, I need to find a way to do that now. The ones I stored in paper bags (like I do the tuberous begonias) just all dried out.

Well, if it gives you pleasure, go for it.

It doesn't give me pleasure any longer, so I don't do it. Well, let's just say I'm very selective about what I save and what I don't save. For the most part the plants I save are things that go totally dormant or at least semi dormant like my collection of Alocasia and Colocasia. I really love these guys, so the work of lugging some big pots inside is still worth it to me. Luckily none of them have to spend the winter in my living area. That would be too much since I really don't like house plants all over the place.

I did sacrifice two huge Brugmansias this year. They got chopped up and tossed into the compost pile. I still have one and that's plenty. It's much nicer only having to lug one pot down to the basement and then up again in the spring.

Kevin

Yes you are crazy! I on the other hand only took in about half that, so by my math I'm holding on to my sanity quite well thank you.

...and in my defense many of the bannanas, cactus and succulents will go into the not-quite-freezing garage and should go into semi dormancy if I let them alone.

...and the coleus cuttings on the windowsill are in water, so technically they don't count as full plants.

...canna and dahlia roots also don't count, especially since I haven't yet dug them (even with the snow falling outside). Cannas and dahlias are being "divided"

also end of year clearance sale buys don't count. They are clearly for next year and don't qualify as being "brought in".

you mentioned that some of the plants are in heavy ceramic pots. These should not be risked out in the freeze-thaw of winter weather. Since you're putting them away anyway, leaving the plants in is actually a time saving decision... not he move of a "crazy person".

So re-do your math and take another look. Crazy might just be a little harsh.

At least you're not out there in PJ's and a coat fumbling through the dark the night before a big freeze trying to bring in all the agaves and aloes that are out on the back steps. Now that's true crazy. Never been there.

-and just for the record, the dozens of pots of hellebore and cyclamen seedlings that I brought into the back of the garage are an experiment in indoor growing since they are actually hardy plants that don't need to be indoors.

LOL, Kato_B! Once I subract the things that will soon be dormant, the total is more reasonable. Ditto the glazed ceramic pot plants (about 15), as of course it would be a criminal waste to ruin the pots.

Kevin, I brought in a colocasia too, Black Magic. It's my first time growing one of these. Do I treat it like a houseplant, until it (and if) it does dormant? Right after I brought it in, it bloomed. I think it was saying "thank you". I didn't even know it could bloom.

So as long as my coleus cuttings are in water I don't have to count them? And I don't have to count the pots of begonias stacked in the root cellar or the geraniums in paper bags in the root cellar or the colocasia? Cool! Then I only brought in 8. But now I'm worried...maybe that makes me abnormal!

Every year I resolve that I will be super-efficient, cleaning up pots, trimming, spraying, taking cuttings and getting everything down to the basement light garden long before the expected first frost. The goal is to be relaxing in my armchair with a mug of hot cocoa on the night of the first frost, secure in the knowledge that all my desirable plants and cuttings are safe under cover (the alternative being a mad scramble on the night of first frost, digging things up, tripping in the dark and throwing out my back lugging a bunch of heavy pots indoors).

This fall I thought I had it under control. Everything I wanted to keep was indoors by Oct. 3, and we didn't get our first frost until this past Friday (Oct. 28). However, the unexpectedly late frost meant I kept looking for more stuff to save over the last few weeks (just a few more cuttings, rescue a couple duplicates, dig up that six-foot Cestrum nocturnum and haul it down to the basement even though I already have rooted cuttings, etc.). Even on the last night before frost I just had to take one more pot in.

All this means I've got to weed the collection (43 plants? Pikers! I've got hundreds) and either throw plants out or find someone willing to adopt them. My office at work already has three big palms and assorted other overflow (I might as well add a fountain and a tape loop playing jungle sounds).

There must be some more seeds I can order...

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:279906}}

Oh so glad to hear someone else does this too. I guess I'll have to count how many are clustered in my garage or in my tiny greenhouse that is totally disorganized. I just can't let my begonias die down; they are gorgeous right now. I'm giving up on my 2 brugs and just stripping them and putting them in basement to be dormant over winter. They weren't worth all the care to keep them going last winter. (TOO many bugs and no flowers). I HAVE to keep some of my geraniums because I want one of every color available and don't want to repurchase them next year. Besides, I have 3 plants that are huge now. I have an actively blooming hibiscus that MUST come in. Oh, and some of my prettiest and best smelling petunias planters....I just can't let them freeze either. Our Wisconsin winters are just too long to go without having some of my flowers blooming in my tiny greenhouse and they give me GREAT pleasure. Definitely worth hauling in for the winter (and keeping the heat on in the greenhouse) and hauling back out in spring.

HOWEVER, what does everyone do for BUG control? I had aphids, some tiny brown flying things, etc. I tried the soapy water trick and it didn't do anything.

I'd bring in that many if I could!

But you should definitely look in to which of your plants can go dormant and don't need to be treated like houseplants - they can be moved to a cool garage more like your begonias.

I believe hibiscus can go dormant and many of your plants would keep their leaves but can still shut down and survive with no light at all for winter months, to save space on the windowsill for the plants that absolutely need it.

I always kept a rosemary plant in front of a window in the garage. It is a north-facing window and gets VERY low light in winter; it still grows some new leaves over winter (and gets covered in blooms believe it or not) but because of the cold temperatures it survives with much, much less light than it would otherwise. I also keep some spike plants that way, and asparagus fern will go semi-dormant in that condition.

I'm trying to overwinter fuscias and geraniums dormant in a garage for the first time; in previous years I've tried to treat them like houseplants in a window but I heard they are able to go dormant so will try it anyway. I'm also experimenting with keeping a couple ornamental pepper plants in semi-dormancy.

I have cut way back on bringing in plants that do not go dormant since we have started traveling during the winter as don't want to overburden a friendly neighbor who comes in to water once a week.

Other plants that are bug magnets, tropical hibiscus, ornamental peppers, begonias, petunias, etc. are just no longer worth the trouble for me.

Also, lately I've been noticing that a house full of green plants makes seasonal decorating seem out of place. As if summer hasn't really ended.

You re not alone. I have a patio that is as almost as big as a Suburban back yard. I did not want it to have furniture alone so I use tropical plants and houseplants in pots in that area. I did not get 4 trees in before the snow yesterday. I thought I had at lest 2 more weeks before the panic.

I moved in 3 years ago and it looked like this.... I said it needs some bluestone and beautification....

{{gwi:279908}}

Then I put two pots out there ...
{{gwi:279909}}

And the maddness went..... I need more plants, I need more plants. This is last year I had double the amount of pots this year...LOL
{{gwi:105789}}
{{gwi:105790}}
{{gwi:86646}}

linnea - In regards to Black Magic: I haven't grown that one in quite a while. The last time I killed it over winter. I know some people say you can store these dormant in the basement over winter, but I think that's real tricky. If you can keep it going in a sunny window, that would be your best bet. In other words, treat it like a houseplant. It will probably look like crap most of the winter, but if you can keep it alive it will return to its original glory once back outside. Just don't overwater it especially if your temps are cool.

Another alternative if it has produced some pups or baby plants, take a few of those and grow them like houseplants. They will take up way less space and once the winter is over and they're back outside, they will grow like crazy.

Kevin

Oops - I forgot about the 20+ clivia seedlings I started this year. The original plan was to sell all of them before the winter set it. Sold a few, but not as many as expected. Oh well, there's always next year.

I have had bug issues, but it didn't get too bad, as long as I was vigilant about it. It never seems to become an issue until about a month before everything is due to go back out. Then, being out seems to take care of it. I was going to ask on here if anyone knows about a systemic insecticide, something that can be put in the soil.

I had white fly and aphids (on the big ivies). For the aphids I had to cut off and discard the growing tips, then spray. White fly was on the sweet potato vines, and I sprayed, but of course they just fly away. Scale insects on the hibiscus: just pick off as they appear, or cut off growing tips. I have a fish emulsion preparation to use on those if it gets bad, but that can't be used indoors. I had to haul them out one sunny February day, spray, let dry, then bring back in.

I had mealy bugs for the first time, now those, were more serious. They did kill the plant.

I signed up on weather dot com for a severe weather alert. I got a frost freeze warning 2 days ago. It was better than waiting for such on TV weather, as they don't seem to consider it of much importance. I had only about 10 left to bring in at the time, but that gave me the incentive to finish it up. I even went out and cut the remaining flowers and large buds off the dahlias. I looked outside this morning, and saw the dahlias had been frosted.

mnwsgal, I hear you about the decorating. The kids (now 24 and 20, and off at school) want the tree "where it has always been," in a box bay window in the living room. But that is the biggest window, which goes down almost to the floor, and has the most plants. I had to move the smaller ones out, and then it was a struggle to get in there and water.

This house has no windowsills. But most of what I have would be too big for windowsills anyway. I have a lot of plant stands, but never enough, to bring most of them up to the right height. I have a card table upstairs in my bedroom between two windows, where I don't care (much) how it looks. I have a few windows I could use in the basement, but I know I would forget to water in any room that I don't spend time in.

The giant porch pots each have a dining room window. Because each has a big 2 ft plus cordyline in it, plus is overflowing with other things, they give the room an exotic air. My brother, as oldest member of the family, is asked to sit at the head of the table for Thanksgiving and Christmas. That is between those two windows. I have Victorian (or Edwardian) furniture. Not til after the event, and we look at the pictures, do we see that all pictures of him are framed by those two exotic plants. He looks like he is sitting in a Victorian conservatory with tropical plants.

Marquest, love your patio! What an improvement.

Kevin: I put Black Magic in front of a window. It did not produce more than 3 leaves at a time, so I think it was barely getting going at the time I brought the pot in.

Controlling bugs is fairly simple if you have a limited number of plants, and are vigilant about inspecting them, washing off leaves of smaller plants in the sink and spraying your collection to prevent insect buildup.

The real problem is when you have lots of plants and ignore potential infestations until they're out of hand (crowding encourages this). I try to spray regularly with a horticular oil/horticultural soap mix, which keeps down my biggest problem (whiteflies). I also try to limit bug magnets, one reason why I let my brugmansias go dormant rather than trying to maintain them in semi-dormancy under lights.

By the way, I like having the flexibility the light garden offers of being able to custom propagate coleus and other plants to fill in my subtropical bed - but I realize that this is a dubious way of saving money, when you consider the cost of electricity for running all those fluorescent fixtures over the winter. I enjoy having the indoor garden while the weather outside is wretched though, so cost isn't the only factor by far.

linnea56 - can you tell me what a 'spike' is, please?

And kato_b - what experiment are you doing with the hellebores and cyclamen?

Eric I love the indoor garden. I almost bought a couple at HD today. The kids are always leaving lights and tvs on all over the house anyway, so I might as well waste a little electricity myself.

Flora- I guess the cyclamen experiment is to see if I have room for them all when they get bigger! I had a couple in a cool basement room on windowsills all winter last year.... worked nice, but now I'm dealing with a bunch of seedlings and transplants that need more room than I have. I could have left them outside but they are so nice I can't do it. I need to be able to visit in all kinds of weather and outdoors just won't cut it. Growing under lights will be the real experiment.

Spikes are sold as annuals, a vertical accent plant for containers. But they are actually a houseplant, a dracaena species. They will keep growing taller and the leaves will get much wider and thicker. They end up looking like a yucca, except dark green. They are forgettable in the form you usually see them in, sold in a 3 inch pot. But let them grow up a bit, and they are much more impressive.

"Marquest, love your patio! What an improvement."

Thank you. I love it in the summer but bringing in all these plants are killing me. LOL

About 8 years ago, I brought this "annual spike" inside. (Dracaena marginata.) This year it has started sending up 2 new tops.

{{gwi:101657}}

I don't think anyone here is crazy but if you are, you're in abundant company. How relieved was I to read that cuttings in bottles/jars of water don't count??! Since that reduces my number by about 100 (no frost yet, and beverages continue to be consumed so final count yet unknown,) I think I'll be at about 25 pots, but don't differentiate much between "house plant" vs. "annual" since I didn't buy any of the annuals AS annuals. The plants I elected to buy were chosen with overwintering/permanence in mind, knowing they are really perennials. If it won't reseed or can't be perpetually propagated, I probably won't buy those plants, and stick to seeds to get larger quantities with less expense. Not that there's anything wrong with buying annuals. It's just not for me, not how I want to use my meager gardening budget. Used to do it until "disposable income" went on the endangered species list.

-Marquest, wow! Such a great space now. It looked so naked without all of your plants before. Like those planters too, especially the Easter Island-esque ones!

-Eric, what a set up you have going. I am shamed! I think I am going to go slink down the stairs to the overwintering area and clean up the little piles of dead foliage and soil that never got cleaned up from 'The Big Haul-in', lol!

-purpleinopp, well said. I'm starting to limit the few annuals I buy now to those that can be easily overwintered or produce seed enough for the next year too...
CMK

I bought some flourescent lights yesterday. I think there's room for more plants now!

If the light works out and I get another one I bet I could pot up some of the cuttings that are in water and some of the elephant ear offsets that are stored in the garage....

Thanks for the explanations.

Well last night was panic night, night of 1000 cuttings, wet'n'wild (trying to get rid of ants in 2 pots,) and I ended up with a HUGE bumble bee that came to life after warming up inside for a few minutes. I put it back outside, then the dog ate it. I scared the heck out of a couple half-asleep lizards, and stepped in some poo, but as far as the plants go, I think everything went well. The windowsills are full of bottled cuttings, and it will be a few days until I finagle spots near windows for the pots. As soon as my honey drinks some more beer, I can separate the doubled-up cuttings. Are we having fun yet?

I dragged one more plant into the garage last week. It's a Jatropha curcas (a.k.a. physic nut) from which I've been expecting flowers for the past two years. Instead it has concentrated on growing into a 5-foot tall multistemmed tree. I had to hold onto it, though, since according to folk medicine it is "abortifacient, anodyne, antiseptic, cicatrizant, depurative, diuretic, emetic, hemostat, lactagogue, narcotic, purgative, rubefacient, styptic, vermifuge, and vulnerary, physic nut is a folk remedy for alopecia, anasarca, ascites, burns, carbuncles, convulsions, cough, dermatitis, diarrhea, dropsy, dysentery, dyspepsia, eczema, erysipelas, fever, gonorrhea, hernia, incontinence, inflammation, jaundice, neuralgia, paralysis, parturition, pleurisy, pneumonia, rash, rheumatism, scabies, sciatica, sores, stomachache, syphilis, tetanus, thrush, tumors, ulcers, uterosis, whitlows, yaws, and yellow fever"

Chances are one or more of those afflictions will come my way eventually (excepting parturition and "uterosis"), so it's good to have a cure on hand. Besides, the seeds can be processed into biodiesel fuel. Hopefully the plant will stay dormant in the garage until spring.

Eric, if you did get a hernia from hauling that tree in, at least it has provided it's own cure. :)

linnea56, I just noticed you said you were going to be wintering Black Magic. I killed 2 until I realized they do not survive dry storage. I grow all mine in pots. I bring them into the laundry room which is 60-70 degrees and give I watered it twice a month.

It looks bad one leaf growing one leaf dying but when it gets outside in the summer it grows back really good.

I overwinter Colocasias in pots/tubs at the edges of fluorescent fixtures, giving less water than they'd want in active growth. They do look cranky over the winter, but recover with warmth, good light and extra water.
One poster here (Tropicalesque forum?) advocated cold storage for Colocasias in water with moderate light over the winter, and I tried that for awhile in my garage. Trouble was, the water kept clouding up and reeking no matter how well I washed soil from the roots, and the garage was probably a bit too cold for Colocasias, even semi-dormant (at least 40F seems to be needed).

eric I saw that on the tropical forum. I was afraid to try. It seems you would need exact temps and lights to pull that storage method together.
It is easier for me to just keep them in a semi growing conditions above freezing with damp soil. I give them a cup of water when I see the soil getting dry.

I brought in one more. It is the last one. It has to be the last one. There's nothing more out there to bring in. That's it, final.

It's a potted Crinum americanum which if lucky I can get two flushes of bloom out of per season, to go with the oversized strap-like leaves, all of which are frosted dead but the bulb is probably OK, and if it isn't then so what. I need better Crinums.

heh heh. Last Thursday I dug up some amaryllis that I had planted out. Same thing, frosted dead leaves but hopefully healthy bulbs.

I'm eyeing a couple rosemary plants that it's a shame to let die.... I also keep thinking I'm done.

I've always lugged all of my pots back inside into the basement for the winter (about 25) just to see what will survive and come back. The spikes come back to life with careful fist exposure in the spring (I've burned a few), and my 7 foot oleander tree does fine with no care or water and low light from my tiny baement window. Never had luck storing bulbs and tubers, so I left the cannas in the pots to die on their own...What a surprise to have them come back to life when I brought them back outside and started watering them! I also had a heliotrope come back to life after a winter with no care. This year I invested in a datura and cestrum nocturnum and want to put them in the basement (I have no room upstairs for these large pots). Do they need water or will they go dorment? I will take cuttings of the cestrum to be safe but would like to save the plant as it is a good size (2ft) and will be much larger come October. My basement gets fairly cold as I am in zone 5 in Massachusetts, so I'm afraid if I use artificial light and provide water they will just die as they are tropicals...Has anyone overwintered these in a cold basement?

I've always lugged all of my pots back inside into the basement for the winter (about 25) just to see what will survive and come back. The spikes come back to life with careful fist exposure in the spring (I've burned a few), and my 7 foot oleander tree does fine with no care or water and low light from my tiny baement window. Never had luck storing bulbs and tubers, so I left the cannas in the pots to die on their own...What a surprise to have them come back to life when I brought them back outside and started watering them! I also had a heliotrope come back to life after a winter with no care. This year I invested in a datura and cestrum nocturnum and want to put them in the basement (I have no room upstairs for these large pots). Do they need water or will they go dorment? I will take cuttings of the cestrum to be safe but would like to save the plant as it is a good size (2ft) and will be much larger come October. My basement gets fairly cold as I am in zone 5 in Massachusetts, so I'm afraid if I use artificial light and provide water they will just die as they are tropicals...Has anyone overwintered these in a cold basement?

I've always lugged all of my pots back inside into the basement for the winter (about 25) just to see what will survive and come back. The spikes come back to life with careful fist exposure in the spring (I've burned a few), and my 7 foot oleander tree does fine with no care or water and low light from my tiny baement window. Never had luck storing bulbs and tubers, so I left the cannas in the pots to die on their own...What a surprise to have them come back to life when I brought them back outside and started watering them! I also had a heliotrope come back to life after a winter with no care. This year I invested in a datura and cestrum nocturnum and want to put them in the basement (I have no room upstairs for these large pots). Do they need water or will they go dorment? I will take cuttings of the cestrum to be safe but would like to save the plant as it is a good size (2ft) and will be much larger come October. My basement gets fairly cold as I am in zone 5 in Massachusetts, so I'm afraid if I use artificial light and provide water they will just die as they are tropicals...Has anyone overwintered these in a cold basement?