Getting them Ready for Winter.

When should one start bringing in plants for the Winter? With the temperatures still reaching into the 80's and 90's during the day, it is hard to justify that it is time to start thinking about winter care for your plants. Yet there is Sooo much to do and the nighttime temperatures are dropping into the 60's! It won't be long before we are covering up outside plants to protect them from a light frost to preserve their beauty a few more weeks until a hard freeze kills them.

I began the process this week. Still overwhelmed by the heat of mid-day, I've been working in the early morning and after dinner to gather all the plants scattered about the yard and bring them to the potting table. Some of my extra Echeveria and Mother of Millions had grown to the point they were toppling over. I had so many, that I still had propagation trays with plants that never got transplanted into their own pot! Time to make some compost. Oh-- how I hate to do that! but the reality is I have very limited room in the Greenhouse. And, I have already started new propagation trays. Then there are plants that had outgrown their pots and were in need of new ones. So, separating, repotting and trimming my plants was a big task which took most of two days.

Then there was the cleaning of the greenhouse. Sweeping out the accumulated dirt, spider webs, dead bugs and rodent poops, and rearranging and dusting off the shelves. Now the fun stuff! Getting all those plants I've decided to keep back into the greenhouse for the winter. O Boy! talk about a puzzle of a job! there was no opportunity of organization. Water and stick the plants were there was room to stick them. It is a full house. ---But don't forget there are a few planters and Tropicals that need to fit in yet.