I had a disaster last year trying to overwinter some cuttings in a cold part of my house. You might want to look at the "winter protection..." thread toward the end if you're curious. The bottom line was, "Dont baby them".

If I'm concerned about bugs and bringing plants inside, then I always try Safer Soap. I drench everything including the top of the soil. Even then you're likely to still bring in something.

These cuttings could take a few light frosts. Maybe that'll take care of some of your problem. And then maybe you could figure out a way to cover them up outside for the winter. If you could keep them outside, I think you'd improve your chances of survival, bugs or not.

Good luck, Hay.

Thanks so much for the info. Maybe I should leave them out. They've grown quite a bit this summer.

Kynda, I overwinter mine under some bags of leaves, so I'm not suggesting that you simply leave them outside in zone 5. You could very easily lose small cuttings that way. But I just wanted you to be aware that if it's not one thing, then it's something else. Last year, I brought mine in to protect them from the cold and instead they died from, I suppose, a fungus.

I'm going to be putting my cuttings this year in a mound and protect it with my bags of leaves as I do my bigger plants. I've made a point of rooting several in larger pots and I'm hoping that several together will survive better than individually potted ones. We'll see.

Good luck. Hay.

I could use the leaves. We save all we can get for the compost pile, then use them as mulch the next spring. I did read the thread about overwintering. Thanks again!