IT’S COLD-IT’S TIME!

This cold weather should have triggered your brain into thinking about your plants outside. Houseplants like Boston fern hanging baskets are especially touchy to the cold nighttime temperatures and should be brought inside immediately. The longer your plants have to endure cold nights, the more they will fall to pieces once you bring them inside.

Now there are several plants that can be left outside longer (as long as they do not experience frost or freeze) if you are good with the fact that all of the leaves will drop off eventually. These plants include tropical hibiscus trees and bushes, mandevillea vines and many other tropicals that while in Florida never freeze and therefore have no problems other than insects.

So why would you want the leaves to fall off? Because it is the leaves that house insect eggs that will hatch inside the warm confines of your home. In fact, if the leaves do not drop off on their own, I will pull them off…all of them. Start by pruning the plants back to the size that they were originally (they will grow back) then remove all foliage until the stems and trunks are bare. Spray the woody branches with dormant oil or simply use a strong concentration of soap, water and (a teaspoon of vegetable oil) followed by pouring the soapy water down through the soil and roots.

Many bulb plants growing outside do benefit from a little frost before they are dug up such as dahlias, tuberous begonias, calla lilies, elephant ear plants, cannas and others as the frost sends a message to the plant that it is now time to rest for the season. After they experience the frost, dig them up and allow them to dry out before you shake off all the soil, then place them into paper bags or cardboard boxes-not plastic. Store them in a cool place such as a basement, closet or storage area but do not allow them to freeze. Repot inside in April, not before, then plant them outside after all danger of frost.

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