Hallson Gardens

Has anyone successfully overwintered a heuchera/ella inside the house in a container? I know most perennials need a dormancy period, and I have a nice garage that would do the trick (let them get cold but still protect them)....but the leaves on some are so pretty I want to see them in the house during the winter season!! I just don't want to damage their growth cycles. Plus, I have a secret worry that they "want" winter sunlight, even though that makes no sense considering snow covers leaves!

Hi,

Heuchera flower best with a dormancy period. You could probably keep them evergreen and growing indoors, though, so long as they aren't soaking wet.

Like I mentioned in response to your other question we grow these year round in containers without any trouble so long as I keep the mice and rabbits away from them. We pot them in a coarse, well-draining soilless mix with the crowns just above the soil level. In November we tip them all on their sides, bait for mice, and then cover with a frost blanket. Personally I think the frost blanket actually helps to keep the rabbits away from them and that's about the best help with that, and may not be completely necessary.

Chris

Thanks, Chris! I'll probably have too many other plants in the house to bring the heuchera inside, anyway. Maybe I could try just one and see how it does (I'll see if I can squeeze one into my House Jungle!) But I love the flower sprays too much to mess with their cycle, so I'll most likely either put them in the garage with little spritzes of water now and again, just to prevent complete dryness of the soil, or I'll try leaving them outside but protected as you suggest.

They are evergreens here, having the old leaves all winther.
Last year we had snow for months but when it melted they still had some leaves, but the plant was rather small.

Think they will be okay as houseplants if you put them in the house with in a week or two.

Pia

I was looking for this one too. I have the Heuchera Sanguina Firely and it was too big - a 2 gallon pot. So I split it in half; the half went in the garden, the remaining half in a flower vase.

Now, I want to plant the remaining ones in small pots, and keep in the basement for winter. I have perlite, soil mix.
Now, it will be like houseplant, but the plant needs dormancy or not?

So, if i put this in the basement, its dark in there, are they gonna sleep-----the leaves die off like hosta?
Or do I need to water them regularly?

Sorry, I feel confuse which way to go? If I keep them houseplant, I need light, but basement is dark. So I guess my option would be to let it dormant and sleep. Now, How do i do that?

Thanks. Angelina

Chris: what is soil less mix? Do you just mix perlite, vermaculite, peat moss .....whatever else, no potting soil?

Angelina

Hi Angelina,

Soilless mix is potting soil without any dirt or humus in it. Canadian peat moss, perlite, and pine bark is my mix of choice. Perlite and the bark help to aerate and break up the peat moss. Vermiculite is only needed in mixes that need to hold more moisture, so I don't use that at all.

You can find these types of potting soil in bags usually at the home stores. You don't want the ones with humus/top soil/sedge peat/compost/manure as those hold way too much moisture over the winter.

I still think the best bet with Heuchera is to overwinter the pots outside, protected from excess moisture. Tip pots on their sides, move them into a shed, or against the house under an overhang. If you put them in a shed be sure to bait for mice, and keep them away from the bunnies too.

Hope that helps!

Chris

Chris_W wrote:Hi Angelina,

Soilless mix is potting soil without any dirt or humus in it. Canadian peat moss, perlite, and pine bark is my mix of choice. Perlite and the bark help to aerate and break up the peat moss. Vermiculite is only needed in mixes that need to hold more moisture, so I don't use that at all.

You can find these types of potting soil in bags usually at the home stores. You don't want the ones with humus/top soil/sedge peat/compost/manure as those hold way too much moisture over the winter.

I still think the best bet with Heuchera is to overwinter the pots outside, protected from excess moisture. Tip pots on their sides, move them into a shed, or against the house under an overhang. If you put them in a shed be sure to bait for mice, and keep them away from the bunnies too.

Hope that helps!

Chris

Hi Chris, thanks for the explanation on soiless mix. The Home Depot guy laugh when I said I want to buy a soiless mix for my heuchera. He pointed me to the bag canadian peat moss.
at least, he was on the right track, part of it.
i will definitely pick up pine bark today. My house has a consistent supply of perlite.