I let all my perennials in pots go completely dormant--let the soil dry all the way and the plants die back. Towards the middle of November, once they're "sleeping," I put them in storage bins inside my unheated garage. Folks say there's a chance they'll get moldy but I've done this the past couple of winters without a single casualty. Along about the second week of March I give them a sip of water and they gradually break dormancy. I've done lilies, clematis, coreopsis, astilbe, false indigo, ornamental grasses--haven't lost a one. I'm 2 mi. south of the MA state line in CT.

The ones I didn't get planted out,I just left them out in the yard in their milk jugs. they died back just like ones in the ground.The next spring,up they came But I use a deeper soil than what it tells you to with trudis faqs.
moonphase

Gardenweed, are your storage bins sealed? With tops? It would be less work for me to put them in the garage.

Moonphase, I see you're in Georgia. It's too cold here to just leave the pots unprotected unless we have an unusually mild winter.

Thanks.

sandysoil - I do put the plastic lids on the storage bins. Last year I also lined them with cheap polar fleece throws, newspaper or straw for an extra layer of insulation but I don't think it's really necessary. They freeze in February when the temp gets down around zero but they would in the ground as well. Like you, it was too much work/effort to dig holes & set the pots in the ground altho' this year I could do that just as easily. I cut a 30 ft. square garden bed in half diagonally and there's lots of room to dig holes for winter sowing leftovers. It means digging them up again in spring however, so it's twice the work of my garage/storage bin strategy.

I put about 200 pots in my unheated garage every year. I bring them in after they've gone dormant and it's consistently cold outside. This is usually around Thanksgiving, first week of December, but I have noticed it seems to be getting later and later! (Once it wasn't till mid-January!) I keep watering them while they are outside - not as much as when they are active, but I do not let them dry out.

I pull them in the garage and pile them up - literally! I stack them up on the garage floor and just leave them. I have covered the windows with black landscape fabric, doubled over, to keep the light out to keep them dormant. This step might not be necessary for me, as the windows are north and east-facing, but it's something I've always done.

In January or so if there is snow on the ground I will throw some shovels-ful of snow on the pots; if there is no snow I may water them a bit. I often forget to do either, lol.

I start bringing them out in spring, as the weather warms, and bring out the hardier things first. I might lose one or two or even five plants a winter, but not bad out of 200. And the ones I lose are usually the ones that are in little four-inch pots.

I will add, although not as encouragement to do this, but to show how tough many perennials are, that last year I never got around to bringing in most of my pots, and most of them did fine, outside, unprotected.

I'm in northern/northeastern Fairfield County in CT, but I am at a fairly high elevation, so I'm a bit colder than the rest of my area. Zone 6.

Hope this helps! Good luck!
:)
Dee

I still haven't decided! Maybe I'll bury the little pots and put the big ones in the garage. I'll see how much energy I have when the foliage dies back.

Thanks for all the info.

Would this work for trays of 4 packs? Putting them in the unheated garage that is. I have about 10 trays with 4 packs and the thought of planting them all in a nursery bed is, well alot of work. They are mostly Columbine and cone flower and a few others but all perennials.

Donna Mae

Donna Mae, I don't know if I would try this with the 4-packs. In my personal experience, most of the things that I have lost over the winter were in small pots - 2-inch to 4-inch pots, maybe a few 6-inchers also.

That being said, I do have one particular bunch of columbine that never even made it out of their milk jug bottom for years! I just kept sticking it back in the garage, not even adding new soil. Gosh, I don't know how those poor things survived year after year - I think it was three years at least. Finally planted them out last spring.

So it's possible that the tougher perennials would survive, but it's up to you whether you want to risk it.

Is it possible to put the trays inside a box or storage bin? Once the plants are dormant you could stack them to save room. Honestly, I don't know if this would make a difference, but I wonder if stacked in a bin with some leaves or straw if they would have a bit more protection. Just make sure the mice don't get in there or you'll have some little surprises in the spring, lol!

:)
Dee

I second what Dee said Donna Mae. All the perennials I've brought through the winter in pots have been gallon size or larger and they've also been in MiracleGro Moisture Control potting mix. I can't say with 100% certainty whether or not that was a factor but it's possible. It gets down near zero inside my garage come February and it stays that cold for weeks at a time. If the plants are dormant, it shouldn't bother them since they'd have the same exposure to extreme cold if they were in the ground. The only source of warmth is my car's engine heat when I get home from work & pull it inside the garage.

I kind of thought it wouldn't be a good idea. Started planting them in a holding bed till spring comes.
Thanks for the replies.

Donna Mae