So ends my first really great garden

A few months ago I posted My First Really Good Garden and this past Tuesday I put it to bed.  I pulled up the cages holding up the tomatoes and squashes, removed the pots and put them away for the winter, and put the finishing touches on expanding it for next year. I made next year's garden twice as large by rearranging the t-posts and using a lot of extra chicken wire fencing and whatever other fencing materials I had on hand.

One thing I did but hadn't planned on is trying to overwinter some plants that are annuals in my zone 5b or 6a. I like Dusty Miller and geraniums, and read that Dusty Miller are hardy in zones 7-10 and am thinking that placing them inside and covered may ’simulate’ overwintering outside in a zone 7+ region. It probably won't work, but there is no cost to me except time spent lugging them to the garage and a sore back. Same thing for geraniums. I saw something on Pinterest about how to overwinter them, and so I stuck them next to the Dusty Millers. I have no idea if that's what the Pinterest item suggested, as I didn't read it. But, my options are limited as I have no greenhouse and don't want to overwinter anything in the basement. If they survive, great, if not, they all get tossed in the compost as starters for next years's pile. Like I said, the attempt isn't costing me anything except the effort.

I was just all jazzed up about this year and thought, ”Why not give this a try?” Perhaps it'll make me work a little harder in getting a greenhouse!

Nice work, Paul!  Can’t wait to see how things turn out next year!

I made next year's garden twice as large

That's when you know!

Looks great. Good luck next year too.

Regarding dusty millers. I have been growing the same ones for 5 years now in my 5b Ontario, Canada garden.


I pile up the mulch around them. They are in very heavy amd slightly acidic clay with high iron content, only slightly improved soil conditions from the inidial pickaxe and till when I ripped out all the creeping junipers and dead boxwoods to redesign and replace the front garden in this house.

In the course of 5 years, 3 bushes of 16 havent made it, they were in the same place that caught the wind, on a winter that didnt have enough snow and a lot of ice and ice rain.

I pile cedar mulch up close around the base, and they sit in the beds covered by cedar mulch. I also mulch all the leaves off the trees and will pile clumps of them around a bit.  They die back to the roots but every year they come up nice, plus they also flower every year now, with lovely little yellow flowers in autumn.

If you're feeling lucky you can try to cover them from the ice instead of overwintering. Thought I would add this since I am also 5b.  

Sionainn Cailís wrote:Regarding dusty millers.
I pile up the mulch around them. They are in very heavy amd slightly acidic clay with high iron content, only slightly improved soil conditions from the inidial pickaxe and till when I ripped out all the creeping junipers and dead boxwoods to redesign and replace the front garden in this house.  

^^^ This ^^^

If you can bury them in large-ish wood chips, they will most likely survive the winter.  Or straw.  You want to keep them somewhat dry, so if you mulch over them, consider putting some kind of waterproof cover over that -- perhaps a piece of black plastic.  That'll get them through the coldest months.  Once Feb or March rolls around, remove the plastic and once the last day of frost is near, pull back the mulch and let them breath.  The key is that they are not too wet or they will rot.  But if you can shelter them from the worst of the cold, while keeping them relatively dry, they'll over-winter in place.  As snow melts and rain falls, there will be enough moisture in the soil that they'll be OK.  But you don't want the mulch that protects them (chips or straw) to get saturated.

Hope that made sense.

Best of luck.

Marco Banks wrote:

Sionainn Cailís wrote:Regarding dusty millers.
I pile up the mulch around them. They are in very heavy amd slightly acidic clay with high iron content, only slightly improved soil conditions from the inidial pickaxe and till when I ripped out all the creeping junipers and dead boxwoods to redesign and replace the front garden in this house.  

^^^ This ^^^

If you can bury them in large-ish wood chips, they will most likely survive the winter.  Or straw.  You want to keep them somewhat dry, so if you mulch over them, consider putting some kind of waterproof cover over that -- perhaps a piece of black plastic.  That'll get them through the coldest months.  Once Feb or March rolls around, remove the plastic and once the last day of frost is near, pull back the mulch and let them breath.  The key is that they are not too wet or they will rot.  But if you can shelter them from the worst of the cold, while keeping them relatively dry, they'll over-winter in place.  As snow melts and rain falls, there will be enough moisture in the soil that they'll be OK.  But you don't want the mulch that protects them (chips or straw) to get saturated.

Hope that made sense.

Best of luck.

I had already transplanted them into pots and moved them into the garage. Based upon what you've both said, they might make it through the winter that way. Maybe not. I'll update this in the Spring. And, if they're dead, I'll do what you've suggested next year!