Now that the outdoor gardening season has ended, I was once again faced with the chore of dealing with all the plants that can't be overwintered outside. A lot of them get tossed, as they are cheao and there will be more next year. However, when the scorching summer temperatures finally subsided, the plants in many of my containers really started to bloom and look real pretty. I really couldn't face just throwing them away! I have several houseplants that spend the summer out, and return to the sunroom in September... But these are annuals that I haven;t saved before. I started plotting and decided to use an area in our storage room. I treated these plants with the bug spray, and started bringing them in one by one. The nice Hibiscus with yellow blooms (that battled whiteflies last winter) A Mandevilla, Begonia, several Geraniums,and Herbs. I bought a CFL 60 watt grow bulb after researching on line. It seems to be doing a good job. I turn the bulb on for about 8 hours a day. If all goes well, I'll have some good containers ready to set out next spring. As the weather turns cold, my attention is turned to my love for houseplants and growing my indoor garden. sun room ( photo / image / picture from Kay's Garden ) Weeping Fig & Tropical Hibiscus in for the winter ( photo / image / picture from Kay's Garden ) auxillary plant room ( photo / image / picture from Kay's Garden )
Your home became a little paradise Kay, congratulations,,, like this do and I with my plants,, somewhere in the home, somewhere covered outside the home, etc.
Hiya Kay, Boy, oh boy--don't those plants of yours look good indoors. Even your axillary room looks quite cheerful with he green boarders. I wonder what next season will be like there.
My oh my kay, You need a sunroom/greenhouse, huh? Watch that mandevilla for scale. I bought a couple off the clearance rack a couple years ago and battled it all winter. Maybe a dose of that "rose fertilizer from bayer" with a systemic in it would be very beneficial for you. which reminds me this Fall I bought another plant off the clearance rack at lowes and it too had scale and died before I realized it was scale and not nodes on the stem. WAAAAH! at least I think it died. I guess I will see in the spring.
My husband would be mumping and moaning by now if I brought that amount of plants indoors. He used to say that winter was like living in a jungle. I now keep all of mine in the greenhouse covered with gardening fleece.
Yes I realize this is borderline crazy, they really are packed in. I don't think a greenhouse will ever materialize for me.*sigh* My sunroom does have great light from south and east facing windows. I keep the "houseplants" in there. This new spot is for the annuals to overwinter. The space is storage and seems perfect to keep them alive. It is just enough out of the way, but still convienient. We have an extensive vinyl LP collection on the top shelf you can't see in the picture, so if we want to find music, we will need to rearrange a bit. Ha I did treat them all before bringing them in, I am in the room every day now, so I will be vigilant about watching for pests. I love to fuss, water and inspect each plant. They seem to be responding to the grow bulb. The Begonia looks better than it did all summer! My name is Kay, and I am a gardening addict....