Will annuals stay alive over winter in an unheated garage? (2024)

George WeigelRooted cuttings in a tray ready to go inside for the winter.

Q: Last year at this time, I brought a bunch of annuals inside -- geraniums, ivy geranium, a beautiful lantana, a sun fuchsia and a 'Dragon Wing' begonia.All did beautifully this year and saved me a lot of money.The problem is they take up so much space in the house. Is it possible to just stick all of these plants in my unheated garage for the winter? There is some sunlight there from a few windows, but it still gets plenty cold in January. Do you know if some of these "annuals" can take more cold than others?

A: A few so-called annuals go dormant over winter and survive in an unheated garage. I've done that myself with 'Black and Blue' salvia, geraniums and agapanthus.

I keep the plants in their pots, move the pots into the garage and cut back the foliage once it browns. I give them just a bit of water about twice over winter -- enough to keep the roots from totally drying but not enough to stimulate new growth. Light isn't necessary.

I'm sure the temperatures go below freezing in my garage, but it's never been cold enough to kill these more cold-tolerant species. To be on safe side, it helps to store the pots against a heated wall -- or at least away from the garage door where it's probably coldest.

You can probably get away with this with some other annuals that can stand at least a light frost, such as lantana, dusty miller and salvia. I've even had dusty millers overwinter outside in the ground the past two winters.

But the majority of "annuals" are either 1.) warm-climate perennials that will die at or near frost or 2.) "true" annuals that die at the end of year one after producing new seed.

Species such as begonias, coleus, fuchsia, Persian shield and most houseplants will overwinter if you keep them above freezing. A few start to suffer when temperatures drop below 40. So get them inside in the next couple of weeks.

True annuals such as vinca, zinnias and marigolds are eventually going to croak even if you try to milk them through winter.

If you're light on space inside, take in the most tender plants that you really don't want to risk losing and then store the rest in pots, in soil, in the garage. Especially with a warm winter like we had last year, I think there's a good chance a lot of species would survive.

One thing I do to save space on the tender things is take cuttings late in the season so I'll be storing smaller "babies" over winter instead of full-sized plants.

Here's a past article I wrote on how to "recycle" favorite tender plants for another season: http://georgeweigel.net/favorite-past-garden-columns/how-to/recycling%e2%80%9d-tender-plants-for-another-season.