Last one in the door

The summer had had more ups than downs. Several divided perennials were given new homes and many flats of annuals provided color for the flower beds. One annual, however, did have a mishap midway through the season. Since white shows up well as the summer sun sets in the west, white impatiens often grace portions of several beds. One such plant had a stem severed in the wake of perennial transplanting. ‘ME!! ME!! DO SOMETHING’ the broken segment yelled as attention was given to the other flowers. As in a previous post Mr. Erlenmeyer came to the rescue. The segment was rooted and without fanfare given a spot in a flower bed. The plant flourished and brightened its corner of the world.

The winds of winter spared most of the fall with infrequent visits. Plants and humans rejoiced as old man frosty stayed home to watch re-runs of Winter Olympics. However, not all the plants get to come in for the winter. One by one the chilly nights began to take their toll. The lone impatiens looked about as the other plants were taken in for the winter. ‘ME!! ME!! DO SOMETHING, it’s cold’. The plant was not on the list. The nights got colder. The plant was near the door and was often seen as humans entered and left the warm house.

A trip to refill the bird feeder had the human deciding to scoop up the lone summer cutting. Into the recently emptied pot the summer flower was placed. A spot by the window provided a strategic view of the late fall yard. The last plant of summer now enjoyed the sunny window….spring was a long way away and the inside plants were very friendly.

Jerry

 

Yes, these plants are hard to resist. This summer, I had a similar experience with a dahlia slip. I had mistakenly snipped it. The fool thing managed to root itself and even set a bud. I just couldn't leave it to its cold fate so now I have a dahlia on my window sill. I have no idea how I will keep it alive in a heated house this winter!

 

I brought my favourite dahlia in for the winter. My tobasco plant is really happy in for the winter too.

 

Which do you think is the best plant to grow in winter?

 

Christopher that is a difficult question.

 

The impatien experienced several very cold nights during the period I bought in several other hardier plants for winter.
Over the next few weeks the existing plant structure had difficulty adjusting to the indoor environment, resulting in a deterioration of turgor. Before the stem succumbed to the location change, another stem emerged and is small enough to develop in the indoor environment. The plant will probably make it through the winter. It is an interesting experiment.

As for a plant to grow inside during the winter months, I would go with a begonia.

Jerry

 

I would say an indoor pepper plant!! i am desperately trying to keep my pepper plant growing just so the peppers already on it will continue on to maturity!! Thinking about putting a heating pad under the cloth pot to see if that works, then again it's supposed to be in the 60's again here. It's protected in my makeshift greenhouse with grow lights so I'll just have to see how it's doing after this cold snap in the south.