Week 28:

CONSIDER OVERWINTERING

Last week I spoke of getting tropical foliage plants ready to move back indoors for the winter. There are a few annuals such as coleus, geranium and fuchsia that you might want to consider for overwintering inside as well! Garden centers have to choose yearly from hundreds of varieties of annuals and selections can vary from year to year.

I have a few varieties of coleus and geranium that I want to be sure to have next year, so some of these plants will spend the winter on the porch. I select a couple of the strongest plants of each variety for potting up. The plants are cut back to a reasonable size and are planted in an eight or nine inch pot using a good planting mix.

I always take a few of the tip cuttings to root in smaller pots just for extra insurance! Perlite should be added to potting soil for rooting cuttings. A mix of 50 percent soil and 50 percent perlite makes a great rooting medium. The potted plants do best in a sunny window. Rotted cuttings need a few weeks of indirect light before spending the winter in a sunny window as well.