Most plants that are considered "house plants" are actually perennials in warmer climates, they call them tender perennials. Plants like snapdragons, fuchsia and geraniums (and those are just a few) are all actually tender perennials that we just grow as annuals. I think that some marigolds and Impatiens are tender perennials also, but don't qoute me on that one, as I have never tried. You could try and do a garden web or google search on tender perennials and see what you come up with. Also, a lot of the mums you but at garden centers in the fall will actually survive the winter if you plant them in the ground and get them established. Hope this was some help to you! Good luck in your overwintering!!!

What wasnt clarified in sarabarah's answer, is that some plants are "annual", which is Latin for yearly. They only live for one season, they produce seed in the fall which under the right conditions will grow into other plants the following spring, which will again, live for one season etc.etc. Its just how they work. Bringing them inside wont keep them alive longer than they are genetically programmed to live.

Right. But by saving the seeds of annuals (of non-hybrids), or even just letting them fall onto unmulched ground, they will come again the next year.

And yes, I do believe that light requirements, temperature requirements, and even humidity requirements are often taken into consideration when classifying a plant as a "houseplant". I have been known to purchase them and plant them in my gardens for the summer, knowing full well that they will die at the first sign of frost. But the foliage of some is so spectacular and often the prices are so low that I think it is justified. And, of course, some I bring in to overwinter after treating them for insects. There is often a big adjustment for them when they come in and sometimes they drop all or nearly all their leaves. As to which ones, it's kind of a hit or miss deal. Even inside and even in the winter, my climate is very different from yours.

Lizm, it's interesting that you say no one in your zone would bring in impatiens...when I was in college, that was the most common houseplant for many of us, because it bloomed all winter and was so easy to start that we all passed pieces of it around. At that time, I didn't even know that anyone grew that tropical plant outside, treating it as an annual. We tried coleus, but it was just too arid and the poor things spent more time dropping and growing leaves than being pretty. Many of the tender perennials don't take to dry winter indoor air very well.

In addition to what has already been said, it's worth noting that most plants (except cacti) which are considered permanent houseplants such as Ficus elastica, some Begonias, Impatiens, Anthuriums etc are plants which in their natural habitat come from warm climates where they grow as understorey plants i.e. they are adapted to warm temperatures and low light levels. That's what makes them good indoor survivors. Just being a perennial doesn't necessarily make a plant a good candidate for growing indoors but it does increase its odds of surviving a few months over the winter until it can go outside again.

where are you liz???

and what heats your house????

in my z5 MI ... forced air furnace ... the ambient humidity of the house for the 4 months or so that the furnace runs.. is about 30% ... if i set it any higher.. the double pain windows weep copious amounts of water on the inside ... when the temps start falling below 20 degrees outside ...

for most garden plants.. that is INsufficient ... and that is the biggest difference between your house and a greenhouse ....

so what will live indoors ... is stuff that can deal more easily with that particular variable .. in my experience ...

that plus light .. a sunny window is already .. probably.. 50% shade and it fall very fast as you move inches away from the window ... and with all the cloudy winter days... anything that thrives in full sun.. is going to struggle mightily indoors ... i took a great leap with indoor plant growing.. when i built my light stand .... and solved that variable ... but the electric bill costs more than just rebuying the plants the next spring ....

then there is the automated thermostat .. which kicks the temps down to 62 to 65 in winter at night .... things that thrive in mid summer... do not thrive in cooler temps ... just another variable to deal with ...

so far i have covered .... heat .. light .. humidity ... whats next ...

media saturation with cold nights .. lead to root rots.. which then can attract gnats ...

etc etc ...

if you brought in the mums .. after bloom .. very late in oct/nov ... they may have already been hit by frost ... if you want to try those again.. go take some 3 inch cutting.. and root them indoors right now.. and see if they will winter over.. TIMING is everything .... you can not bring a plant in from a 40 degree day outside .. into a 70 + degree house ... things rot ...

does this help at all???

good luck

ken

Unfortunately, there is no list to consult, no book, no website. BUT this question is discussed every year on many different forums. It's something that needs to be researched for each plant, to learn if it really is perennial instead of true annual, and then to determine its' likelihood of surviving inside your particular conditions, available light, humidity, if it will fit inside, etc... If you do it plant-by-plant, you'll find which are your best candidates to attempt overwintering. In zone 5, you'll have very weak sun rays for a few months, and a much longer period when the plants must be inside. Plants that would need shade in the summer are often happy in a south or west window while inside for the winter. The farther north you go, the weaker the rays of sunshine get.

"Inky fingers" is the only coleus I've had success overwintering as a potted plant. I have much better luck with cuttings in water, especially here in AL where winter is much shorter and has much more sunshine than where I used to live in OH. Several times I've brought lime green caterpillars inside on coleus, so just wanted to warn you to check the leaves for them so you don't end up with caterpillar poo and eaten leaves. Smaller potted coleus plants seem to do better than the really big ones.

In general, the less light a plant was getting outside, the better its' chances of surviving a winter inside. Removing a lot of the larger leaves can also be helpful to some plants, but that's also just a general guideline. If you have the time and resources to repot plants as they're coming in, that can help also.

If you are interested in listing some of the plants you'd like to save, I'm sure people would love to discuss their experiences with those specific plants. But be careful, it's a sickness and you can find yourself shopping in the spring based on which plants you think you can overwinter, then a house crammed with them. Unfortunately, there's no cure or vaccine but we're here as your support group. :+)

" But be careful, it's a sickness and you can find yourself shopping in the spring based on which plants you think you can overwinter, then a house crammed with them. Unfortunately, there's no cure or vaccine but we're here as your support group. :+) "

Oh, so true, so true....

Thank you all! Very interesting responses, much to think about! For example: my house has a gas furnace. And we have VERY dry air all winter. So that's a huge factor. And then the light, yes. I am in New York City.

I had no idea you could grow impatiens inside. Do you need extra (artificial) light?

Re: impatiens inside...As I recall (it was a long time ago), we mostly used the impatiens the same way purpleinopp does coleus. We just stuffed cuttings in a pretty jar of water. They lived so well that way that I don't remember if we actually potted them. Probably not, as water and jars are free, and pots and soil cost money! And we certainly didn't have any additional lighting other than just the regular room lighting--they grow happily in part shade.

I could add that Torenia makes a wonderful indoor houseplant, at least here. I take cuttings each fall which root effortlessly and once the plants get a bit of size on them, they bloom continuously throughout the winter. They are near, but not in, an east facing window. I think I enjoy them as much or more in the winter than throughout summer.

I have grown impatiens inside through the winter under lights. Placing a tray with rocks underneath the plant and keeping it filled with water helps increase humidity. I have also done the same with begonias and coleus.

Spider mites, white flies and fungus can be a problem.

Those annuals no longer find a place in my home for the winter as I use the space for tropicals.

what happens with a lot of them.. with the reduced sun.. they start getting really long .. sparse.. leggy ...

so you root some new ones.. and once you see roots.. you throw out the old ones ...

just keep cycling thru them over the winter... you do NOT end up with the actual piece you started with.. but you end up with the same plant ...

to avoid a lot of problems.. sterilize everything.. media.. [no soil/dirt in the house] .. pots.. watering cans.. etc ...

link to sterilize media in the microwave ... wet the media.. put in one gal bag.. nuke it... i dont care if the bag you buy says its sterilized.. do it again.. kill all those bug eggs and fungus spores to start with.. then there is no problem to later fix ...

do NOT take anything i say to stop you from doing it.. its fun.. i am just trying to make you think about all the variables that need to be 'solved' ...

and.. when you hit the wall.. just toss them out into the snowbank .... and try again next year ...

the only failure is the failure to give it a try ... otherwise its all a learning curve ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

What do you use to *debug* your plants before you bring them into the house?

I presume you spray them with something?? ~~ or maybe some kind of soil drench??

thanks in advance

You need to be very cautious about how you de-bug your plants before bringing them inside. The last thing you want to do is to expose family and pets to lingering toxic fumes. However, there are some safe solutions to this problem that I am sure others will help you with. I don't take my plants outside for the summer at all....this is the one of the reasons why! ;-)

I don't own any toxic chemicals and don't find them necessary, especially in regard to plants. When bringing plants back inside for the winter, I put the pots in a tub of water so all of the soil is submerged. This causes ants, spiders, pill bugs, or whatever might be in the dirt to evacuate. Repotting is also a good way to make reasonably sure you're not bringing critters inside with the plants.

way back when.. i used a systemic product that was scratched into the media ...

and i will yell:

AND I DID IT ABOUT A MONTH PRIOR TO BRINGING THEM IN THE HOUSE .....

ken