Overwintering with Houseplants

T.W. Hardy

Initially, this blog post was going to focus on preparing your zone 7 and 7B gardens for the overwintering process. However, after performing some initial research, I learned that there has been an unimaginable amount of reputable information written and published on this topic. After the last cold hardy cultivars are removed and garden beds are put to rest for the season, gardeners have many options to get through the winter doldrums.

Figure 1. My home shelving unit for overwintering

Many commercial growers are developing new and exciting cultivars that are hardy for zone 6 and below. This is exciting for gardeners who prefer to keep their hands dirty through the late fall and winter seasons. Many gardeners take the winter months to peruse seed catalogs and plan their garden for the spring. However, for some this will simply not do. This brings us to our lush from the summer sun, houseplant cultivars. Fall and winter provide excellent opportunities to give our air-enriching plants some extra attention.

We can begin by gathering all those plants that may still be outside or in winter light-lacking and relocate them to locations throughout our homes and sun rooms. I chose to place all of my plants onto one shelving unit and provide supplemental light and moisture as needed, depending on plant health.

The following links provide sound overwintering tips:

1.        www.ag.umass.edu
2.        www.extension.illinois.edu

And for those who like to stay warm indoors, preparing for next year’s growing season click here!

And for those who may desire to turn their homes into amateur laboratories, propagation provides another layer of houseplant enjoyment. There is ample information and articles available on the topic of propagation. A super easy plant to get started with is the "Spider plant" Chlorophytum comosum. I have seven plantlets growing from the specimen in the picture above. If I can propagate, I am confident that you can too!  

There are many gardening options available for us gardeners outside of tropical regions. Given the chance, our houseplants can provide us a nice distraction from “Old Man Winter” and the falling temperatures and precipitation that follows.


What houseplants are you growing? Have you propagated any lately? Please share your story in the comment section below. 

Houseplants and air quality

Philodendron domesticum  
 elephant ear philodendron

Indoor plants provide gardeners with a way to grow something beautiful and useful all in one.With winter coming the air quaility in our homes is often a challenge with the windows closed and the heat drying out the air. NASA scientist have found houseplants to be a way to help rid our homes of pollution from chemicals and a variety of irritants.












Some of the plants recommended are:

• Hedera helix   English ivy
• Chlorophytum comosum   spider plant
• Epipiremnum aureum   golden pothos
• Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa'    peace lily
• Aglaonema modestum   Chinese evergreen
• Chamaedorea sefritzii   bamboo or reed palm
• Sansevieria trifasciata    snake plant
• Philodendron scandens `oxycardium'   heartleaf philodendron
• Philodendron selloum   selloum philodendron
• Dracaena marginata   red-edged dracaena
• Dracaena fragrans `Massangeana'   cornstalk dracaena
• Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig'   Janet Craig dracaena
• Dracaena deremensis `Warneckii'   Warneck dracaena
• Ficus benjamina  weeping fig

More information and photos on this topic can be found from the sights below:

http://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/photos/15-houseplants-for-improving-indoor-air-quality
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/houseplants/default.cfm
http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h110indoorair.html