Leslie, hard to give a blanket approach for all your questions. List the specific plants, and answers can be had, with the specifics.

We in NC can overwinter some tropicals, and Raleigh can have more success than Greensboro. Not so far as the crow flies, but can make a difference depending on the plant in question.

I think the main difference you'll find in Far West gardening vs So East gardening is drainage issues over winter. Some of your SW favorites ain't gonna like SE clay soils in winter.

List your specific plants, many here who will chime in to make em grow best.

I didn't have any plants from the desert, so I don't have to worry about those-

I have a raised bed with lantana, salvia, daisies, alyssum, mexican heather, and a really pretty blue flowered ground cover type thing that I don't know the name of. I have 2 new camellias, calameris, lambs ear, oxalis, violas, sedums, brugs, cannas, daylilies and iris. Impatiens, butterfly bush, mums, hostas, wax begonia, and a stray morning glory, I think. Gee, not bad for living here for only 3 months! Thank you, Raleigh Swap, and generous gardeners! I have a bunch of plants that I collected, that I am not sure what they are. Lots of stuff is in containers. I can put them in the ground, or leave them in the containers.

Thanks so much for any advice!

Leslie

lantana - matbe if well-drained when coldest, I take cuttings (very easy) inside to be sure
salvia - what kind? Drainage important, but so is species
daisies - perennial daisies OK
alyssum - I think this is annual and reseeds itself
mexican heather - good question, I think it's marginal
camellias - should be fine, they bloom in winter
calameris - ?? don't know this one
lambs ear - OK
oxalis - OK
violas - pansies or violets?
sedums - most OK, depends on species, lineare will be fine but donkey's tail would croak
brugs - as Jeff says, mulch crown but take cuttings insude to be sure
cannas - mine are OK here with mulch
daylilies - OK
iris - most OK, not tropicals like walking iris though
Impatiens - annual here
butterfly bush - OK
mums - OK except florist mums
hostas - OK
wax begonia - annual here
morning glory - annual here
I think you're in Cary - when I was there, I had good luck with anything rated to Zone 7 and some marginal zone 8's - I am outside Hillsborough now and 30 miles north makes a huge difference. Good luck.

Leslie, the Kalimeris is very hardy
(to zone 4). No problem even in the container.

Shari

I've found a sheltered corner on the house that gets good winter sun after the leaves fall off the oaks. So I cluster all the small potted stuff into the corner. It buys me some time should I accidently leave something out that doesn't do winter well. There are some tropicals that can be induced into a state of dormancy (let them slowly dry out) where they loose their leaves - at this point you can just shove them into a cool dark room and just ignore them all winter. They'll be ugly but they'll recover as soon as you start to water them and put them in the light. This works well for brugs, bananas and plumeria.

Under the house, ie crawlspace gardening works best for me if I install lights on timers under there. Just about anything will thrive in the even temps and good humidity. Begonias go nuts and things like Dahlias and elephant ears/cannas can be moved off to the side to not encourage growth but to keep them above freezing.

I don't have much luck burying pots in the ground and covering with leaves but others do it with good results.

I do have good results covering things with remay or row cover fabric and I have great success growing winter crops either in the ground or in a cold frame.

regarding salvias - does black & blue overwinter in the ground? tag says hardy to 15 degrees.

I place my pots of wax begonias under a light on a timer in the basement, water once a week, and they do just fine.

My B&B overwinter the weather, but the deer clobbered them.

A really good tip for salvias is not to cut back the bare branches until spring. They are hollow, fill with water, and freeze out the plant to the roots.

Also, the birds enjoy the perches during the winter months.

I've had blue, and black and blue with not the greatest drainage come back beautifully and spread like crazy. AZ, it is not the earliest to come back, so be patient in the spring.

peace, claire

My experience with B&B has been if it's well established it's fine- don't cut it back until spring though. The first one I bought in the fall and planted just before an early cold spell- it didn't make it. The next year I bought in late spring and I've had it for at least 3 years.

I don't think you will have much luck with the mexican heather. My mom bought me some last year and they did well until about the third frost and then they all died at once. She thought they were irish heather, but this spring I saw them at a box store and the tag said they were hardy to 50 degrees. Oh well live and learn.

Leslie

This is the perfect time for collecting containers for winter sowing!

There was a thread on it not too long ago .. get out all your seeds, read through the thread and start saving those plastic containers!!!

I've already got two grocery bags full of containers just ready to go and am still going though seeds.

X

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing Thread