It’s FOMO time in the garden as overwintering decisions loom

For gardeners, FOMO — the fear of missing out — rarely hits harder than when it comes time to decide what tender plants make the cut to get winter protection.

I’ve spent enough autumns stewing about which plants get saved and which are left to meet a frozen death to know that this process often starts with a hard line — only the most beloved or difficult to replace plants get saved — and ends with a house full of plants that will be increasingly neglected as winter drags on. Some will perish just weeks before they make it outside in spring.

In hopes of reducing the space they take up and the work to keep them alive, this year I’m employing a different strategy and take cuttings of favorite plants. 

Small cuttings can be grown with several in a 4-inch pot, where they will produce roots for a few months before they need to be transplanted into individual small pots. When spring rolls around, I can either use each plant individually or plant a few together in a larger pot.

Among the plants I’ll save with this method are the tall-growing succulent Senecio Skyscraper. Succulent cuttings should be allowed to dry out for a day or two so the cut end callouses over before planting them about an inch deep in well-draining potting soil.

I’ll also take cuttings of some tender geraniums (Pelargonium) by cutting 4-inch stems, dipping them in hormone powder and then planting them in moist soil, but this isn’t the only way I’ll save them. Another tried-and-true method for overwintering geraniums when you don’t have room for pots of them is to dig them up, wash or shake off the soil and either hang them upside down or put them in a paper bag and store them in cool spot that’s ideally around 45 to 55 degrees.

Some plants, particularly tropicals, are not well suited to taking cuttings, so the bar to meet to merit overwintering is higher. The pair of ornamental bananas (Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelli’) took up so much room — not to mention manpower to maneuver even the chopped-down meristems in and out of the basement — that only one of the now 12-foot-tall monsters will be invited in. 

And a pair of favorite houseplants that survive mostly because of their summer vacation outside will take their usual places back in the house, although the ficus tree will likely get a fresh potting before it comes in. It’s not the right time for that, as it is likely to encourage new growth, which is not what you want at this time of year, but it’s a task I’ve not had time for and is overdue.

No matter which method you use for overwintering plants, getting them inside and caring for them during winter is only part of the work. As spring nears, most need to be brought out of dormancy, potted and prepared for their hopefully triumphant return to the garden.