Comments on: How do I winter over hardy plants in containers?

By: Garden Coma: What Will You Do While Your Garden Sleeps? | Eden Makers Blog

Garden Coma: What Will You Do While Your Garden Sleeps? | Eden Makers Blog — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 23:38:22 +0000

[...] like Kathy Purdy of Cold Climate Gardening in New York, how could I answer questions such as, “How Do I Over- Winter Hardy Plants in the Containers?”. I read in Mr.McGregor’s Daughter that the weather in her part of Illinois went from [...]

By: Kathy Purdy

Kathy Purdy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:29:58 +0000

You have 100 plants in containers? What kind of plants are they? If they are annuals they won’t live a second year anyway, so there’s no point in trying to save them. After that, it is a matter of how much space you have, how valuable the plants are, and how much trouble you want to go to. Do you have a basement? An unheated garage? I would put the most valuable plants in the coldest part of your basement or the warmest part of your unheated garage. If you can’t fit them all in those spaces, then I would gather the rest against the least windy side of the house, stacking if necessary, then cover with leaves, hay, or any other organic, fluffy material you can get your hands on. Then cover with a tarp and weight the tarp down. And cross your fingers.

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 15:33:13 +0000

I have about a hundred or so plants to over winter. I am in zone 3. Are there any suggestions.
Thank you

By: peggy brooks

peggy brooks — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:31:49 +0000

thx’s, great info,this I can utilize too, i’ll be using your website. happy holidays!! peggy

By: Sue

Sue — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:25:23 +0000

Kathy,
I enjoyed reading this post and the replies. I overwinter lavenders and other herbs that I keep in pots all summer. So far, I have always gotten plants put in the ground that need to go there. I am thankful for my egress window, but a few did not fit in there this year. I was going to just use the herbs until they are no longer useable due to the weather, and hope for the best. If we get our garage cleaned out, I may try putting them in there. Thanks for the info!

By: James Mann

James Mann — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:37:10 +0000

I didn’t realize that it was that easy to figure out, just two zones difference.

I was wondering how to winter my container plants but in a panic I decided to plant them all back into the ground for the winter.

My Great Aunt use to bring in some of here container plants, after they die down, and put them in the old attic. She would also go up to the attic a few times over the winter and give them a little water. They all seemed to survive the winter and looked great once they were back out side in the spring.

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:22:09 +0000

Tedb and bogie are spot on…winter/spring freeze/thaw is a killer, along with being wet. Let the pots freeze and then keep them frozen (and dry) until spring. Frozen pots also reduce rodent problems, but if you are wintering a lot of plants baiting for rodents is a good idea.

By: bogie

bogie — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:46:18 +0000

Every year I have shrubs and perinnials that need to be overwintered. All I do is place them in a marginally protected area (next to the rugosa roses is a favorite place) let the pots sit there until they have frozen thru, then covered them with straw. I make sure to get a good batch of straw between the pots too, for good insulation.

What I am really after is to not let the plants thaw enough during warm snap in January that the plant starts to grow.

By: tedb

tedb — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:55:46 +0000

Here in zone 4 all the small nurseries I know just tip the containers on thier side ( I think to keep moisture out) and then cover them with straw or a foam blanket. Most any covering that breaths should work I would think. I’d also put them on the north side of a building or an evergreen would be a good idea. It seems important to keep plants at a steady temperature. Death would be more likely from growing to early in spring, or during an winer thaw, then the raw minimun temp the pots reach.

By: Kathy Purdy

Kathy Purdy — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:39:22 +0000

Fran, I would believe it because I’ve forgotten plants myself. You are in a warmer zone than I am, so the evergreen snuggle was not as chancy as it would be for me. A lot of times we try something and cross our fingers, but we aren’t sure it works until after it does.

Annie, that thought had crossed my mind, but our sandbox still gets a lot of use and I would probably hear complaints.