zone pushing: overwintering, in 2 podcasts

IT WILL SOON BE LAST CALL around here, though an Indian summer has lulled me into inattention to some about-to-be-urgent chores. My houseplants have been indoors since an early scare last month, but there are miles to go before the garden’s tender things sleep. A two-part podcast and some links to help you on your way to overwintering tender plants–in case you, like me, didn’t get ready last month when we sounded the first call.

Listen in a 2-Part Podcast

IF YOU HAVEN’T even started bringing in your houseplants or are in a warmer zone, the first part of the discussion talked about taking stock of what needs storing and evaluating and prepping potential overwintering spaces at your home.  I recapped that quickly yesterday in Part 2, then got on to specifics how to store dahlias, cannas, elephant ears and more. You can always subscribe to the free podcast on iTunes. (Select the September 12 and October 17 shows from among the weekly programs I do with Robin Hood Radio, the nation’s smallest NPR affiliate, in nearby Sharon, Connecticut.)

• Part 1 (September 12 edition
• Part 2 (October 17 edition)

Other Pushing-the-Zone Experiments

REMEMBER, it’s always an experiment–but it’s worth trying to carry over treasures from one year to the next rather than composting them now. From the archives and elsewhere, some plant-specific tactics to inspire your efforts:

• Japanese maples, top photo (or other marginally hardy shrubs and small trees) in pots
• How I grow Zone 8 Farfugium (Ligularia, above) and other tender perennials in Zone 5B
• Fancy-leaf begonias, indoors and out
• Overwintering “elephant ears” such as Colocasia esculenta
• Wrapup of all my overwintering tips
• An exhaustive plan from “Fine Gardening” magazine for how one gardener does it