What do you do with your blooming potted plants when it starts to freeze outside?

put them by the windowsill with a mirror to redirect the light

I had an azalea & a geranium plant outside & I’ve brought them both in. They’re in front of sunny windows & they’re both blooming. Bring them in.

Know that the situation will not be one in which they thrive. It was great work to get them through one winter. If you can keep them alive, they should recover most of their glory next summer.

Can you set a table in front of your sunniest window and put them on that?

Bring them in, prune heavily, stick some of the cuttings in very small pots and place them (if possible) on a sunny windowsill. The cuttings will root; the odds on the big guy surviving in blooming health are low.

In any case, aging and old geraniums develop hollow woody stems and eventually croak. I propagate mine yearly.

There is also a third way of over-wintering them.

Read this: http://www.flower-gardening-made-easy.com/over-wintering-geraniums.html

I take my plants to work for the winter, and they do just fine under the florescent lighting. You might want to improvise and put that type of lighting near them at home it bringing them to the office isn’t an option for you.

I bring my geraniums in each year and cut off all blooms and down to leaves nearest the root. I don’t even have a suuny window but they do fine in front of a northeast window. One of mine is getting pretty woody but still doing fine.

I am a mean plant-owner. If they can’t survive outside with the occasional assistance of being covered overnight or sometimes being dragged into the garage for a day or two, then they need to find somewhere else to go. Besides, their loss is my opportunity to go to the nursery in the spring and bring home new treasures.

In fact, during the recent and still on-going drought I did not water. I lost a few plants, but many stayed alive and healthy with environmental moisture. Xeriscaping works!

Wow….thank you so much for the great suggestions everyone! I’ll have to see what I can work out….....fabulous! Thank you! :)

My mum used to remove them from their container, prune them and then wrap them in newspaper and keep them in a dark, but dry place until spring.
Then repot them. It always worked for her. Good luck

I am giving an update….this is my THIRD SUMMER coming up with my potted plants…and they are thriving….! I brought them in, set them in a sunny area in winter and they are out now ready to bloom again. Thanks for the information.