Dear Miss Floribunda,
Now that autumn is here, I am thinking seriously about trying to bring plants inside to winter over. Every spring, I spend a fortune on begonias and impatiens for the shady areas of my garden and geraniums for the sunny areas, only to lose them with the first hard frost. I have limited room on my window sills, so I don’t think I can bring them all in. I already have a few African violets, and don’t want to do anything to disturb them. However, maybe I could fit a few outdoor plants that I could take cuttings from to start next year’s garden. I’d like to know how.
Another thing I’d like to do to save money is to collect seeds from my annual zinnias, marigolds and cosmos. Although they sometimes self-seed a bit, I usually find the new seedlings in my lawn or other places I don’t want them. Also, the zinnias always come back a kind of grayish lavender color I don’t really care for.
Please give me some practical and doable tips that would help me save plants and money.
Frugal on Farragut Street
Courtesy of Zoshua Colah Oo UNSPLASH
Dear Frugal,
You are in luck, because the guest speaker at the Hyattsville Horticultural Society meeting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19 will be Kathy Jentz, publisher and editor of Washington Gardener magazine. In addition, she is the author of best-selling gardening books and the popular host of the award-winning podcast GardenDC.
She will speak on “Plant Propagation: Make More Plants For Free” at My Dead Aunt’s Books, located in the SoHy Arts Building, 5132 Baltimore Avenue, across the street from Franklin’s Restaurant, Brewery and General Store. There is no charge other than a voluntary donation, but you might wish to call to make a reservation: 270.472.9325.
And, if you wish, you can stay after the Q&A for a meeting of the Hyattsville Horticultural Society, as well. New members are always welcome, regardless of level of experience, and you might want to learn about the plant exchange taking place the following weekend.
Now, while I don’t want to divulge too much of what Ms. Jentz is going to teach us about, I can address a couple of your immediate concerns: First of all, you don’t have to keep geraniums in pots when you bring them in. Save your east-facing window sills for all the wonderful African violets you will have when Ms. Jentz shows you how very easy they are to root — if you know how to do it.
Geraniums are easy to store in paper bags or boxes over the winter. Dig them up before the first frost, when the soil is dry, and then gently shake the excess soil off their roots. Place them in clean dry cardboard boxes, or paper shopping bags. Boxes are sturdier, but bags can be hung on hooks. If your basement is dry and unheated but frost-free, you can store them in a dark closet there. You could also put them in your garage if it’s attached to your house and the temperature doesn’t dip below freezing. The ideal temperature for them is 50 – 60 F. Next spring, after they leaf out, you can take cuttings. They root easily.
Tuberous begonias can live in pots over winter if you don’t overwater them, or you can pack them away much the same way you would dahlias. You need to remove the stems and leaves and nestle the tubers in peat moss, coir or vermiculite to keep their centers from shriveling.
Fibrous begonias have to be kept in their pots and watered weekly. You wouldn’t need many because they are so easy to root from cuttings when spring comes. They and some of your impatiens could go in pots in a south-facing window too bright for your African violets. I confess to not having a great deal of success with impatiens once they are brought inside, so I’m looking forward to finding out from Ms. Jentz how best to keep and propagate them.
Concerning seed-saving, you should be aware that seeds from hybrids rarely produce the hybrid plant itself. New plants revert to one or another of the genetic contributors.
For exactly the reason you give, I don’t let my zinnias self-seed but clip the seed heads before they drop. I prefer investing in a new package of seeds that will brighten the summer garden with a fiesta of festive color rather than such a melancholy mauve. Ms. Jentz will explain the science for us, as well as advise us on which seeds to save and how to store them so they will germinate successfully.
I hope to see you for this event, and also at the meeting and plant exchange that is to take place at 10 a.m. the following Saturday, Oct. 26. The venue is the rear garden of Virginia Bennett, 4520 Madison Street, Riverdale.
Miss Floribunda writes about gardening for the Life & Times. You may email her at Floribundav@gmail.com.
