Bring Some of Your Garden in for the Winter!

One of the things that makes winter a little brighter for me is to bring some of the garden into the house in the fall.

For many years, I suffered from a seasonal affective disorder (SAD). November would roll around, daylight savings time would end and, for me, it was as if someone turned off all the lights. I'd get up in the morning in the dark, work eight hours in an office with no windows, and drive home in the dark. I became depressed. Finally, I brought it up with the family doctor and he prescribed an anti-depressant. That helped to some extent. But other things helped, too.

 I read on several occasions that geraniums could spend the winter in the house or a garage and be re-planted the following spring. Simply hang the plants upside down in a dark room or unlit garage until spring. I tried this on several occasions and it was an absolute failure. Sometime after I gave up that strategy, I read that geraniums and begonias could be pruned back, kept in their pots or containers, and brought inside for the winter. Two seasons ago I decided to give that option a try.

We have two second floor rooms that have south facing windows. They get lots of sun from mid morning to late afternoon on clear days. In the spring two years ago, I bought four geraniums to sit on the deck. They were typical plants in six inch pots. They grew well over the summer and I brought them into the house in late October. I pruned back some of the "branches" that had become gangly and removed leaves that had begun to yellow. I put them in the sunny window and watered them regularly. They thrived and grew. When spring arrived again, it was apparent that they needed to be re-potted. Last season outside they more than doubled in size and had just a huge number of flowers all season long. The picture above shows them in the window. It gives me great pleasure to care for them and doing so is a terrific mood lifter on dreary days. Some of the plants in the picture are begonias. I've had the same experience with them as with the geraniums.

Another green addition for my winter mood adjustment is the two ficus trees we have. We've had one for many years in the house and it summers outside with us on the deck. It came in for the winter, but I had it in a less than ideal spot and it suffered until spring. The other was in Lois's office at work. When she left there last year, she brought the ficus home with her. They winter over in a room with a large bay window which provides huge amounts of sun on good days. The one Lois brought home is too large, and its pot too heavy to be moved out for the summer but it has always been quite happy being inside.

So if you have the space available in a sunny room, give it a try...bring some of your garden inside with you for the winter!