Getting pot plants through the coming winter?

Its worth having try to save your pots by putting them in the cellar I never have much luck and I really don't have somewhere cool to keep cuttings so this years I'm going to compost most of them although the fuscias I'll put in a sheltered part of the garden up against a sunny wall and let them take their chances.. you can take cuttings from geraniums now.. just take some nice cuttings of 3/4ins and put them round the edge of a 4" pot and keep it on a cool but not cold window sill.. or if you want into individual pots.

I've tried lots of times to save my geraniums but as I said they either just die or never really recover so I just buy new young ones every year and pot them on..

good luck

Annual geraniums seems a touch lavish to me! I'll try the cuttings suggestion, but what's wrong with the cellar idea? Do they just peg out anyway, frost or no frost?

Mine seem to , I've tried various ways, as you say with floss, inside cardboard boxes with light sacking over them, they don't need much light , in the house although its too warm, in the porch not warm enough.. in the garage was the best I did a few survived but as I say I've not had much luck.. who know what I do wrong or maybe I'm just unlucky.

I think it's worth trying the cellar, but you must keep them dry, otherwise they'll rot. The minimum amount of water just to keep them going. look at them periodically and pull off any leaves that are showing signs of mould.
I have some geraniums that I rescued from my mother's clutches in the winter of 1984. She was going to bin them but I kept them in the garage and they were ok.
The other way to do cuttings with them is simply to stick them in a glass of water. Cut the stems at a leaf node on a young shoot. in about 3 weeks they will have formed some roots and you can then pot them up. That way you don't waste any time potting up stems that aren't going to take.
I love having pots of geraniums and fuchsias on my patio in the summer. I am lucky to have a heated greenhouse now - but it's surprising how few days we actually need the heating, and we live in Northumberland.

lilies - bulbs? let them die back , put them in dry sand/compost in cellar
fuschias - depends They can be hardy, half hardy or tender. I would let them die back in the pot when the frosts come. Trim to soil and put pots in cellars. They will probably re-sprout when you get them out in the spring. Water occasionally I'd guess. Strawberries, put them in a sheltered spot outdoors. I don't think they would enjoy the cellar. Wallflowers, leave them out. In the ground if poss. Otherwise if in pots, give them a bit of a trim and put with the strawberries in the most sheltered corner of your garden. They should be hardy. I had one that bloomed right through last winter.
Geraniums - well if you really love them, try cuttings but it is cheap to buy small plants in the spring.

I've been lucky over-wintering with a couple of mature geraniums. I cut them back, put them in a corner of the barn and left them unwatered. Same with a potted Mapel, although of course I didn't cut that back.! .
Agree about not watering too much - if at all.
Geranium cuttings can be tricky - but worth trying. Sandy soil, not too much water, leave somewhere cool with some natural light. Don't let them get leggy.
Good luck!

This is all very helpful! More please .

Can I chip in for advice on an indoor plant - namely my very healthy, bushy and vigorous Poinsetta which was a gift last Christmas. Does anyone know how to get it to go red in time for this Christmas?

G23, poinsettias are tropical plants which respond to equal hours of day and night and that is the secret of getting them to flower: 12 hours in the light, 12 hours in the dark. I think it might be too late to try it now.

I think you are right nano. Very special treatment to get them to "flower" for xmas by the growers.
i remember seeing one that had grown to a small tree in a cemetery in Macao (across the bay from HK). But I don't think they come from there. Somewhere else near the equator?
The thing, I think, about overwintering isthis is to know your plant.
1. bulbs and tubers - daliahs lilies etc naturally die back and have a dormant phase. Summer flowering ones are sub tropical and you can keep bulb dry and frost free and re-plant in spring. Spring flowering ones are tougher, plant now outdoors. (the easiest of all gardening)
2. Perennials - there are lots. Natural died-backers. Just hack back to ground when frost has done its work. Half hardy fuschias come into this category. But others need a greenhouse to get em through.
3. annuals - plant from seed every year, or self seed spontaneously. no point trying to overwinter these, as they have brief lives.
4. the rest. a mixed bunch. (ha!) - you need to name names really. Some need a lot of light and therefore your cellar will not do. They will just get pale and leggy.
My gardening experiment at the moment is to plant paperwhite narcissi (the ones prepared for indoors) in a vase full of pebbles. I will report on progress. They are sprouting roots at the moment.

My parlour palm is outside because it is ENORMOUS! I've not got space inside. I feel I'm a murderer because it is gradually turning brown in the cold. DH suggested I cut down all the brown fronds and then bring it inside. Is this the right thing to do? Will it shoot up again?

I was given a much smaller one for mothers day which is growing gently in a dainty pot. The one outside also started small and has become like a triffid and has been repotted twice so far this year and was reasonably healthy until I put it out. Normally I kill things off before they get to this stage. Oh dear

Jess, I did paperwhite narcissi in a pot of pebbles last year. They grew and flowered but got very tall and 'floppy'. If I did them again, I would put three or four sticks round the edge of the pot so that I could then put string round as they grow. Trying to squeeze sticks in later didn't work.

You've fired my enthusiasm now, off to garden centre to see if there are any bulbs left for this year!

I murdered a bougainvillea A couple of years ago. It liked the conservatory too much and become rampant - and brought in greenfly each year. So I moved it to a sheltered trellis outside. It just survived one winter, shooting again from the base, but expired after some really sharp frosts.