A few years ago, I moved to a house with a large garage that stays just above freezing and since then, I’ve become a bit obsessed with the possibilities of dormant over wintering. Figs, geraniums, brugmansia and various tender bulbs for the most part, but I also keep a ginger bush, fragrant bursera, and night blooming jasmine in their dormant leafless state. This year, I’m thinking to try tropical hibiscus and jasmine polyanthum. I’d love more ideas for what can be successfully overwintered. Anyone?
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I have not overwintered anything before but responding to say that I'm planning to overwinter my mandevilla plants. In the past, I left them outside to die in the winter. I have read people have either moved this indoors or overwintered in the garage.
An excellent candidate for garage wintering and one I’d like to try. Are you trying in the house or dormant?
I'm so curious about this, too! But I always wonder whether being deprived of day/night cycles matters... Are there rules of thumb for what kinds of plants do fine overwintering in the dark? And if it's the ones that go dormant in their native climates, will I be able to recognize their dormancy (before it's too late!) in my Massachusetts garden? Asking for next year, of course :) Thanks!
If the plant is fully dormant with no leaves, like a fig tree, the lack of light won't matter and will help keep the plant dormant. When deciding when and what to take into the garage, look for signs of dormancy. Reduced vigor, lack of new growth, leaf drop. Allow the plant to get through at least a few cold nights outside to push dormancy, but not below 32. In my experience, good candidate species for over wintering have either woody or substantial stems, or are bulbous or tuberous. Many houseplants go dormant, even in warm interiors. I had a china doll (radermachera) that dropped all its leaves while wintering in my sunny warm office. I thought it was dead, but since it was a large plant, I just couldn't deal with getting it out of there, so I let it sit leafless in the corner until such time as I got around to disposing of it. I didn't water it even once for two months. In spring I dragged it out and set it on the compost pile. Wouldn't you know, it leafed out! Beautifully! This year, I'm trying it in the garage, leafless and dark. I suspect it'll do just fine. Better than having it look like a bundle of twigs in my office again! What are you interested in wintering?