The Ultimate Guide to Overwintering Plants

In this episode, Janey is taking on a very important topic for this time of the year: overwintering plants. This is a must listen, if you want to see some of your favorite plants in the garden next year! 
Overwintering is a gamechanger for those who love their outdoor plants and don’t want to let them go.

Join Janey as she guides you through the three methods for overwintering plants, the best plant candidates,  and how to prepare your babies for overwintering. From basics all the way through pro-tips, give your plants some TLC, save money, and get them ready for the colder season with this very informative episode.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Support for this podcast comes from Proven Winners, the plant
brand that gardeners of all experienced levels trust the most
and the brand that I have personally trusted in my
own gardening journey since twenty twenty. Proven Winners selections, including annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, bulbs,
and even houseplants are simply amazing and all are trialed, tested,

(00:22):
and specifically chosen for one purpose and one purpose only
to ensure gardener success. Visit Provenwinners dot com and find
your next favorite plant today Callarogashawk Media. Hi everyone, Janie here,

(00:54):
welcome back to my garden and welcome back to the
Dig Plant, Water Repeat podcast. Today we are talking about
a topic that is so appropriate for this time of
year and can be a real game changer for anyone
who loves their outdoor plants and just can't bear to
let them go. So we are talking about overwintering. That's right,

(01:17):
It's time to give our plants a little TLC and
prepare them for the colder months ahead, especially if we
want to see them back in the garden next year.
So if you've got tropical plants, herbs, or that very

(01:41):
special tender flowering rarity, out on your patio or in
your garden beds. Listen up because this guide will cover
everything from the basic steps to pro tips to keep
them alive and well until you have a chance to
get them back outdoors next gardening season. All right, let's
get into it. Why even bother overwintering outdoor plants. Well,

(02:05):
I've talked about this many times before when I've talked
about temperennials, and I think the important thing to understand
is the concept of a true annual versus a tender
perennial or a temperennial. Remember, a true annual is a
plant that germinates, grows, blooms, set seeds, and then dies
in one growing season. That is actually an annual. However,

(02:28):
many of the plants that we purchase from garden centers
are labeled as annuals because they are actually perennials, but
only in warmer climates, only in zones ten than eleven,
maybe even a zone nine. However, plant companies call them
annuals because it's usually just easier to make one plant tag,

(02:49):
you know, if you live in the United States, for
the whole country, because they don't want to confuse their
consumers and call something a perennial, and then if the
person lives in zone seven and they die because of
winter frost or winter freeze, they don't want to confuse
their consumer. So it's just easier for plant companies to
call plants annuals. But what that does is it tricks

(03:09):
us into thinking that we need to toss all of
our labeled annuals every season, when really we don't. If
we give them a little TLC over the winter, we
can actually save them. So, depending on your heartiness zones,
plants like peppers, sweet potato vines my favorite one, heliotrope,

(03:29):
or even petunias, they're sold as annuals because they're not
hardy and cooler areas. But with the right steps, you
can bring them indoors and you can keep them alive
all winter long, bring them back outdoors in the spring,
and then have the exact same plants. This doesn't only
save you money because you don't have to buy new
ones each spring. If you found a plant that's really

(03:51):
hard to get your hands on, you can keep it
for years and years and years. And when you over
winter plants, you also get to keep growing bigger and
better plants each year because they're getting more and more established.
So now I do have to say, overwintering isn't just
about saving money or finding the perfect plant and keeping
it with you. Overwintering is also a way to keep

(04:15):
the relationship that you've built with your plants. I know
that sounds funny, but it's true. It's to keep it going.
It's to keep it going and to have something green
with you all winter long. And it's you know, some
people name their plants, right, We have lots of people
that name their plants or get really proud of it
or really attached to it, and overwintering is a way

(04:36):
to keep that plant with you alive until next spring. Okay,
so there are three overwintering methods that we're going to
talk about on the podcast today. But before we get
into the methods, we need to think about preparing preparation,
which is super super important. So let's talk about getting
your plants ready for overwintering first, and possibly the most

(04:59):
important thing you need to do is you need to
inspect your plants that you're going to overwinter very carefully
for pests. You don't want to bring in any unexpected
visitors to wherever you're going to keep these plants for
the winter season. If you accidentally do bring in the pest,
you can very very quickly have a complete infestation since

(05:20):
you'll be keeping these plants in conditions that will keep
the plants alive as well as the pests alive. Ask
me how I know. Yes, I've gone through this before.
So carefully check the leaves, check the stems, even check
the soil for pests like spider mites, aphids, and white flies.
And if you do spot some bugs, don't worry. First off,

(05:40):
you can rinse them under a stream of waters that
you have aphids, just make sure you rinse them all off.
You can use a mild insecticidal soap that will really help.
I would recommend keeping your plant in quarantine for a
few weeks to make sure that you've got all the
pests that were hiding and all the unhatched eggs off
before putting them wherever you're going to overwinter these plants.

(06:02):
You're also going to want to check for any damaged
or dead leaves and trim those off your plants to
help them focus all their energy on staying super healthy
throughout the winter. Okay, we're going to take a quick
break to hear a message from our sponsors. But don't
go away. When we come back, we'll talk about what
plants will be the best candidates for overwintering. We'll be

(06:22):
back in just a sec. Welcome back everyone to the
Dig Plant, Water Repeat podcast. It is the end of
the season. A lot of you might have already had
your first frost, and so today we're talking about overwintering
tender plants to save for next season. Not only is

(06:45):
it economical since you don't have to purchase the same
plants next season, but it's kind of fun. If you've
found a variety of plant that you absolutely fell in
love with this gardening season, why let it succumb to
winter weather. Protect that baby and keep it safe all
winter long. Okay, so now let's talk about which plants
are the best candidates for overwintering. When you're deciding which

(07:09):
plants are worth the time and the effort, it can
be really helpful to understand a few basics about plant
heartiness and their natural growing conditions. Generally, there are three
main types of outdoor plants you might consider bringing inside
for the winter, and those three are tender perennials, tropicals,

(07:29):
and woody herbs. So let's start with tender perennials, which
I think is probably the biggest category and the category
that most of us are looking at for overwintering. So
tender perennials are plants that would technically be perennial if
they were living in warmer zones, but they're not cold
hardy enough to survive winter outdoors in more temperate or

(07:51):
colder climates. So think of plants like colias, or like geraniums,
or certain type of pogonias, or even supertunias. These plants
can thrive from multiple multiple years in your garden if
they're given the chance to escape freezing temperatures. If we
talk about supertunias living down in Australia, they talk about

(08:11):
supertunias for living at least three years because they don't
get the cold temperatures that will kill those supertunias. So
tender perennials are usually pretty adaptable and can adjust to
life indoors as long as they get enough light and
are kept out of really cold dress like opening doors
or windows. So another benefit I have to talk about

(08:34):
that comes with tender perennials overwintering tender perennials is that
usually these plants will come back bigger and better each
year because they are establishing their root system each year,
you're not starting from scratch. So if you spent a
few months this gardening season cultivating that beautiful colius or

(08:54):
gorgeous geranium with big, lush foliage and blooms, bringing it
indoors can actually save you the trouble of replanting the
each spring and basically starting over. I have to talk
about one of the most popular tender perennials to overwinter,
and that is the pepper plant. So did you know
that peppers are technically perennials. They're native to warm climates

(09:19):
and can actually live for several years if they're kept
out of frost. So while they're usually grown as annuals
in cooler climates, I know in my climate zone nine
we just grow it as an annual. You can actually
protect them or bring them indoors to keep them alive
all through the winter. When spring rolls around, they'll often
produce even more vigorously after a winter break and you'll

(09:42):
have a head start on the growing season. So instead
of starting new peppers from seeds or starts every spring,
you can think about overweb overwintering your favorite chili peppers,
your jilapeno, or even your bell peppers, and you can
enjoy them year after year after year, and you can
basically build on what you've done the previous year. So

(10:04):
after tender perennials, the next category of plants that I
think are worth mentioning for overwintering is the category of tropicals.
Tropical plants like hibiscus, like mandavia, even banana trees. Now,
this depends on where you live. If you live in
a warm enough environment, you can probably just have tropicals outside.
Here where I live, I can have some tropicals outside,

(10:26):
but some are too tender. Tropical plants, they can be
a real star in your garden, especially if you're looking
for really bold or exotic foliage. I know some people
like to decorate with tropicals around their pools. It's really amazing.
And even small citrus trees are included in this category.
And we all know how amazing it is to overwinter

(10:48):
an orange tree in the greenhouse. It's absolutely it's absolutely incredible.
Unlike tender perennials, tropicals, they're actually used to warm and
humid conditions, so they're actually a bit more difficult to
overwinter because not only do you have to mimic their
natural environment with lots and lots of light, but you
also have to provide lots and lots of humidity. So

(11:11):
having a bright, sunny, south facing window, a heated greenhouse,
even grow lights can help you overwinter your tropicals. But
then you also need to think about humidifiers or even
occasionally misting your plant to help them thrive. Okay, finally,
after tender perennials and tropicals, another type of plant that

(11:31):
can be great for overwintering is woody herbs. Plants like rosemary, lavender, time,
and even sage. These herbs are great candidates, especially if
you use them in cooking. They're often a little more
cold hardy than tropicals and tender perennials. I know rosemary
and lavender will overwinter for me here in Zone nine B,

(11:52):
so they don't necessarily need the same amount of care
as tropicals even tender perennials. However, many will better fit
from being broughten doors if you live in an area
where winter temperatures dip below freezing. Woody herbs can tolerate
a cool indoor environment, so they do really well with
a method of overwintering called semi dormant method. We'll talk

(12:15):
about that in just a sec but I do want
to talk about plants that really are not worth overwintering.
And you need to know about this because I don't
want you to waste your time or your energy on
overwintering plants that aren't going to survive no matter what,
no matter how much time or effort or energy you
put into it. Now, the obvious one is true annuals.
A true annual like a zinnia, a marigold, most varieties

(12:38):
of sunflowers, they complete their entire life cycle in one
growing season. They grow, flower, set seed, and then they die.
And unfortunately, bringing these indoors will not help them survive
no matter what, because it's their nature to go through
their whole life cycle in one growing season. However, if

(12:58):
you absolutely love them, give up. Just try collecting their
seeds and then you can start them again next spring.
Another group that I want you to think about possibly
avoiding for overwintering are super large plants that might actually
be too challenging to move indoors due to their size
or even their care requirements. Once you do get them indoors.

(13:19):
I remember visiting Versailles and France with Jason on our honeymoon,
and in the gardens of Versailles, they had rows and
rows and rows of these gorgeous orange trees in these
giant pots, and they used carts to move every single
orange tree into the orangery every winter. And it's really
a beautiful sight. But I can only imagine the crew

(13:43):
that they need for transporting and even caring for those
large trees every year. So just don't bite off more
than you can chew. Think about the size the plant
is going to get and are you realistically going to
be able to move it into your greenhouse or your
garage at the end of every season? Are you really
going to want to do that? All right? So, now

(14:03):
that we know which plants we're saving over the winter,
let's get into the actual methods. There are three primary
ways to overwinter outdoor plants. One of them is dormancy,
the next one is bringing them indoors as houseplants, and
then the third is using a semi dormant state in
a cool and low lighted space. So let's talk about

(14:24):
method number one, dormancy. So the dormancy method is ideal
for plants like geraniums and like fuchias that do like
to go to sleep in the winter, so to put
them into dormancy, cut back the plants to about half
their size, dig them up carefully, and place them in pots.
If they're not already in one, then move them to

(14:45):
a cool, dark place like your basement or your garage,
and ideally you want the temperature to be around forty
five to fifty degrees fahrenheit. You want to check on
them about once a month to make sure the soil
is still slightly damp and not come depletely dry. Water
as needed, but it's super important not to overwater because
you don't want them rotting out. I'll talk about that

(15:06):
more in just a little bit. Method number two for
overwintering is bringing plants indoors as houseplants. This is probably
my favorite method because you get the benefit of enjoying
your plant in your home all winter long. And you
all know we all just need some green, some foliage
during the winter, so this gives you that opportunity. This

(15:29):
is one of the simplest methods, but it does require
more care and regular care. You just bring the plants
indoors and treat it basically like a houseplant. Tropical plants
and some tender perennials like colias and pogonias, they do
really really well. This way, you want to keep them
in a super super sunny spot and make sure that

(15:51):
it's away from drafty windows or heating vents. I like
to keep my plants that I'm bringing indoors underneath my
grow lights that I already have out for starting seeds,
and that's the way that they can be really really happy.
Water them lightly and reduce your fertilizing because they're not
growing actively. Plants have a dormant period. They basically hibernate

(16:12):
over the winter, so if you overfertilize or if you overwater,
you're going to rot them out. Finally, the third method
for overwintering is called semi dormancy, and you want to
do this in a cool space. So if you have
a plant that needs a little bit more warmth, just
a little bit, like lavender or like rosemary, try the
semi dormancy method. So basically what you do is you

(16:35):
just bring the plant, the whole plant in a pot,
and you bring it to an unheated basement or a
bright cool room. Basically, what you're doing is you're just
protecting that plant from frost. You want to water them occasionally,
just enough to keep the soil from drying out completely.
But like I said, rosemary, fig trees and even some
succulents can overwinter well in this method because all of

(16:57):
these plants go to sleep during the winter, so they're
not going to need too much. They just need protection
from the freeze, the winter cold. Okay, we're going to
take one more break to hear another message from our sponsor.
We will be back in just a second and we
will talk about how to keep our overwintering plants happy.

(17:23):
Welcome back to the Dig Plant Water Repeat podcast. We
are talking about overwintering today and now we're talking about
once we've brought our plants inside, how do we keep
them happy. So here's a couple simple tips that I
have for you for overwintering your plants and basically keeping
them alive. The first thing you need to think about
is the light. Most plants will need at least a

(17:46):
little natural light. So the south facing window is the
best if possible, because south facing windows that's where the
winter sun is going to be. If the natural light
isn't enough, you're going to notice very leggy growth on
the plants, or you might notice their leaves turning yellow.
You might want to consider a grow light. There is
a company called Soultech and they make these fabulous indoor lights.

(18:09):
I have one for my fishtail palm indoors and I
love it. I would like some more. Next tip is
making sure that you're not overwatering your overwintering plants. Overwatering
can easily cause root rot in the winter. Water only
when the top inch of the soil feels dry to
the touch, and you almost want to be a little bit,

(18:31):
You almost want to torture your plants a little bit
because it's so important not to overwater them. For dormant plants,
you want to keep the soil just barely moist, just
moist enough so that they don't dry out. Finally, last
tip I have for keeping your overwintering plants happy is
to think about humidity. Now, remember indoor air in the

(18:52):
winter can be super super dry, especially if you have
a heating system. Think about all that lotion you put
on and all that chapstick you put on. Overwinter plants
have the same issues. So make sure that you're missing
your plants every so often, or you can even keep
a small humidifier nearby just to keep the humidity level
up where they're growing. If you notice some browning edges

(19:16):
on the foliage, that might be a sign that these
plants don't have enough humidity. Another trick is to put
the plants on trees with pebbles and some water in it,
and basically what that does is that creates some humidity
around the plant as the water evaporates. To me, the
humidity is the hardest thing to keep to keep going

(19:37):
during overwintering because we do use our heater and it
just it's really really tough. But if you can get
control of it, if you can get a humidifier, or
if you can be really responsible with missing your plants,
you can get them through. So remember, even with the
best care, the best intentions, challenges with overwintering your plants
can still come up. The most common one I would

(20:00):
say is yellowing leaves. This I think is pretty much
normal for overwintering plants, though it can happen when plants
are adjusting to lower light levels or cooler temperatures indoors.
So if you see yellowing leaves when your plants, don't worry,
it's pretty normal. You know, just just try and keep
them happy, proven off the yellow leaves, and reduce your

(20:20):
watering a little bit, just to make sure you're not overwatering.
Another super common issue that I've dealt with a lot
of times when I'm overwintering my plants is pest outbreaks.
It doesn't matter how diligent I am by checking the
plants for pests, they some one of them is going
to be hiding underneath a leafer or in a little

(20:41):
area in the soil or something like that. So pest
can pop up even though you've checked it and it's okay.
If you spot them, make sure you quarantine that plant
and use some insecticidal soap or nim oil to treat
the pests, and don't put that plant back with the
other ones until you're positive there's no more pests on
that plant, because again, you don't want it to get

(21:02):
out of control, which it can do very very quickly.
So let's pretend we've made it through the winter, we've
passed our last frost, and it's time to prepare our
overwintered plants for life outdoors again. So first off, congratulations,
you babed your plant throughout the winter. I know how
much work it takes, but it's so worth it. So

(21:23):
the best tip for transitioning your plants back outdoors is
not to rush it. You have to go slowly. Just
like you are introducing your seedlings that you've sown indoors,
you have to slowly introduce those outside. You have to
slowly introduce your overwintered plants outside. So a week or
two before moving them outside, start hardening off your plants

(21:43):
by placing them outdoors in a shaded spot for a
few hours each day, gradually increasing their time outside and
exposure to sunlight. This is going to prevent them from
getting shocked and allow them to slowly start growing again
and getting them acclimated to the harsher outdoor condition. So
it may have been a ton of work, but you

(22:04):
did it. Congratulations, Your pride and enjoy plants survived the
winter and you're once again able to get it back
outside and enjoy the foliage and enjoy the blooms. So
there you have it. That is your ultimate guide to
overwintering outdoor plants, whether you're bringing in a few favorites
or turning your home into basically a mini jungle this winter,

(22:26):
which I've definitely done before. Believe me, these over wintering
tips should help set you up for success. And remember
overwintering can be a super fun way to keep your
plants alive and thriving from season to season. But don't
get frustrated. It can be super tough to replicate the
perfect environment indoors for these plants. I would say if
you're just starting out, if you're a beginner gardener, try

(22:48):
a little bit easier plants to overwinter, like geraniums or
rosemary first, then move on to tougher ones like supertunias, petunias,
or helio trope. So that's it for this week's episode
of the Dig Plant Water Repeat podcast. If you've got
a favorite plant that you've successfully overwintered, I want to
know about it. Reach out to me on Instagram or
YouTube and let us all know which plants you've brought

(23:12):
indoors for the next season. And also I want to
know any tips you have. So remember, we're airing one
episode per week during the down season, but once the
new year hits, we'll be right back to two episodes
per week of all your favorite gardening content. I hope
you all enjoyed this and I hope you all have
a chance to get in your garden today. Thank you

(23:33):
so much to my podcast sponsor, Proven Winners. Visit your
local garden center today and look for the white containers
featuring the Proven Winner's logo. There's a reason they're the
number one plant brand that gardeners like me trust the most.
Visit Proven Winners dot com for tips, ideas, and so
much more. Dig Plant Water Repeat is produced in association

(23:56):
with Klaroga Shark Media. It was written and host sto
by me Janie Santos, with marketing and production assistance from
Courtney Clark. Please consider subscribing and watch us on YouTube
or follow us on your favorite podcast app of choice
to get alerts on all new episodes and hey, if
you liked the show, give us a review and hit

(24:16):
those five stars on Apple. Executive producers are Mark Francis,
John McDermott, and Janie Santos.