Every year before the frost, I take my ferns into an unheated building with very little light. I water them just enough to keep them from drying completely out (about a cup of water a month) and in the spring they bounce back just fine.

Wow, cribs, I throw away a huge healthy Boston fern every year. My front porch must be the ideal setting for them...it gets huge and happy every year and then gets tossed. I will try to overwinter my current one.

Okey dokey- good advice cribs! When everyone is using the term frost- do you mean, cold enough temps to be considered freezing, or frost that forms from water crystals, yada yada? I always get so confused with that term. I'm looking at Wednesday with a predicted low of 37 and sort of figured it's probably best to yank in these tropicals on Tuesday. What do ya think?

Claire- this is the first time in history I've been able to keep a Boston Fern alive for more than three weeks! If I can keep one alive 'til next spring, it's going to be a major coup for me. LOL

-Nan

Nan, my wraparound porch is northwest facing, but the spot where the fern sits on a pedestal never gets any direct sun. The BF gets really lush there but does not turn that washed out yellow green that I see on so many houses that have them hanging all across the front in full or part-sun....UG-ly.

For the last 3 years, I have overwintered the same Boston fern in the same pot on the table just inside my front door -bright indirect light, very light watering. It looks pretty good until the last couple of weeks before it goes out again in spring. This year I was going to toss it - after all it should be ratty with no new soil and only my haphazard watering and fertilizing. But I went outside today to throw it in the compost - it looks too good, I brought it inside for one more winter - I promise I'll divide and re-pot it come spring - maybe.

Not to bring bad juju on all this advice but Boston ferns can be disease and pest magnets inside the house or in a greenhouse. Sometimes it can be better to just toss them and start over with a fresh one each spring.

gee thanks, john, for the negative BF juju. interesting tidbit, tho - i've never noticed a pest/disease problem, but then i only have a precious few houseplants.

Me neither, John, but I think it's becasue I have very few plants in house, so they aren't close enough to share cooties.

Guess i've been tossing for 9 years for a reason. Ignorance can sometimes lead to less cooties! (Damn, I should have saved that for tomorrow's quote of the day!)

I had two huge ones this year - well over 3ft diameter - I have put one in my bathroom on the back of the corner garden tub which never gets used because we are shower people. The other one I divided into four smaller ones - I have always bought new ones each year but these were a big part of the wedding decorations and I want to see if I can keep them and then give the kids each one next year.

It does seem to be such a shame to throw them out though, after all, I split mine into 4s and this summer each quarter filled out a new hanging basket. I can do that every year. Wonder if they can be treated with some sort of pesticide in the fall to keep the critters at bay?

Just poking my head in here real quick- we have houseguests again putting a crimp in my gardening. Anyway...about those pests. I read a few weeks ago that a good tip for keeping pests off those houseplants is to put a fresh clove of garlic in the top of the soil. (my whole house is going to smell like a garlic factory all winter) Anyone else hear about that little trick? My laundry room also serves as my indoor greenhouse in winter- I imagine our clothes are all going to smell like The Spaghetti Factory. LOL

Thanks all of you for the tips on both these plants. I figure the worst that can happen is they die, right? If not, we've all got a headstart on Spring! Waa-hoo!

Okay..back to running the Holiday Inn here, what's that saying about family visits, fish and three days?
-Nan

I have my BF on a north facing front porch in the summer. Two weeks before bringing them in, I treat them with a systemic insect/pest killer. I have never had any problem with the "cooties" being brought into the house and infecting my other plants.