Wintering Your Annuals
Trying to get flowers during the shutdown in 2020 was more than a little difficult. All of the garden centers were closed, as were the garden parts of the big box retailers. At the end of the summer, I thought I would try to keep the ones I had finally gotten my hands on. Hence….wintering your annuals.
Finding a Spot
This is easier said than done. My plants were big and took up a great deal of space. You can see them lining the patio here. I had the idea of keeping them in my detached garage. It was and is, very old and drafty. So I ordered a plastic greenhouse from Amazon and a greenhouse heater to keep my babies warm. I also ordered grow lights to give them some sun.
Since it can sometimes get significantly below zero here, my idea was to keep them just warm enough not to freeze. This would have been a great idea if my plants were not so big. They were pretty much jam-packed in the little greenhouse. At first, they all seemed pretty happy. But as the days went on, some of the plants that prefer cooler weather, like my geraniums, started drooping. About a month into the winter, I ended up moving them to my basement. This is how we started out.
Here are the geraniums after I moved them to the basement. Much, much happier.
How did they make out?
Well, even given the various issues of not being able to make it over to the garage, forgetting to go to the garage, and basically just not wanting to go out in the cold, they actually turned out pretty well. This picture is from this past summer. Even after aphids, all their leaves falling off, and a little waterlogged on occasion, they perked up pretty well once it got warm.
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When I took them out of the greenhouse, the poor things were just sticks. I was so happy that they got full and green again. It took a couple of months, but by the end of summer, they were beautiful again. This started me thinking about another winter. Should I try the greenhouse again? I decided against it. I thought it may have been too warm because of the size. Plus, there was the fighting my way through the feet of snow. For the winter of 2021/2022, I tried a different option.
The Attached Garage
I’m pretty much regretting this decision. I thought for sure this would be better, but judging how my poor babies look right now, they are not thrilled. I have a huge shelf running the entire length of my attached garage. It definitely provided more room since I have twice the plants now. Unfortunately, I think the cold did them in. I still have hope that some of them might come back, but they are really dry and droopy. Here is how we started out at the beginning of November.
As you can see, in addition to the ones from the previous year, I’ve also added some ferns, hibiscus, avocado trees, butterfly bushes, and a gerbera daisy. Those were November. And here is where we are now.
What I’ve Learned About Wintering Your Annuals
The geraniums did great. As did the gerbera daisy. I still have hope for the others, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. The most important thing I learned is…..I should move. Winters do not agree with me or my plants. Haha! If I do need to stay here for another winter, I will definitely go back to the detached garage. I will build shelves around the entire exterior and use the heater, but not the greenhouse. That should prevent any mold and mildew from overheating and hopefully prevent the aphids.
I hope my trials and tribulations with wintering your annuals help out someone else. One bright spot in all of this was my gerbera daisy blooming. I had three huge blooms that I enjoyed for weeks. It was so nice to cut off flowers in the middle of winter to bring inside. So I will leave you with those beautiful pictures. Cheers. π
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