Me too...except my basement is unfinished. Eagerly awaiting answers.

I've done the upside down thing. If I recall correctly, you remove them from the pot, shake off all the soil, cut them back, and then hang them rootside up - I hung them with shoelaces from rafters in the basement. The basement did have some light, from a small, just-above-ground north-facing window, and probably did not get below the high-thirties, I would guess. (I never paid attention to heat, light or humidity situations when I did this, but I'm trying to think of all the factors that may come into play now that I'm giving someone else the procedure!)

Then in spring, you take them down, and I think I may have soaked them a bit, repotted, and they sprouted and grew! I have to admit I did not expect this to work at all, but it worked wonderfully and I did this successfully for several years. I figured I'd give it a shot and I was glad I did.

Dee

I re-pot most of my geraniums in small pots and store most of them in the cellar where they get less water and less sun than they had all summer, but most of them usually make it through the winter. The tiny pots are simply because I have a lot of geraniums and don't have room for large pots for all of them. My cellar is heated, although cooler than the rest of the house.

I've never tried the bare root storage thing. This year I brought some larger pots indoors, and have a couple growing in an upstairs window like NHBabs. I started my geraniums from seed this year so I am trying to save them for as many years as I can.

Thanks for the replies!

NHBabs, I wish I had a sunny window to use as you do! But our house only has windows on the east and west sides. We have a large the west-facing slider but it's blocked by a deck roof. The west-facing bedroom windows are already filled with two large indoor plants.

It looks like Dee's technique is the one I'll have to use. If anyone else has success holding over geraniums, I'd love to hear.

Shake all the dirt off, stick bare root plants upside down into a paper bag, close the bag. End of January or early Feb. take them out, trim them and put them into new soil in low light. It works, I've done it. Personally, I'd put a couple of pots up with your orchids and call it a day. Reduced light is not a biggy for them in the winter. And, if you're really bored, you can watch 24 women with 24 different ways to winter a geranium on Youtube, lol. Fine Gardening, Taunton Press videos, had a lady showing exactly what I wrote above. It works, molie.

How to Winter Over a Gernaium - in 24 lessons or Less

Molie, my kitchen windows are east facing, and I have memories of my grandmother overwintering hers in her kitchen window, which was north-west facing.

Like NHBabs' kitchen windows, my cellar windows face the east. The geraniums don't get much sun or water (I water them only when I go down there to put in a load of laundry). They also suffer from being crammed into tiny pots. By June 1st they look pitiful, but they spring back to life as soon as they are put back outdoors. (I forgot to mention that, starting in April or May, I put them outdoors during part of the day, then bring them in at night, to get them used to the outdoors again.)

I've overwintered a geranium for years. I simply stick it in a window in my basement (I have a walkout basement) and drizzle a little water on it a couple times during the winter. In March I bring it upstairs, trim it and start feeding and watering it.