HOW TO TAKE CARE OF SUMMER PLANTS IN WINTER

It's important to learn how to take care of summer plants in the winter, because most so-called summer plants cannot withstand freezing winter temperatures. Whether your summer plant is a tropical plant or a tender herb you'd like to keep alive throughout the winter months, learn the steps to taking care of plants through the wintertime.
How to Take Care of Summer Plants in the Winter

When people talk about summer plants, what do they mean? Identify your plant below and learn the specifics of how to take care of summer plants in the winter.
Annual Flowers

Annual summer flowers such as impatiens and begonias hail from warm, tropical climates. Most cannot withstand temperatures consistently dipping below 50 or 60 degrees. You'll see frost damage on the flowers first, followed by dying leaves.

You can try to maintain them throughout the winter months by placing a cold frame around the garden bed. A cold frame consists of side panels and an angled clear plastic or glass top that lets light inside the frame. The interior becomes a warm micro climate you can adjust to let in air or moisture as needed.

Many annual summer flowers aren't worth trying to winter over for next season. Most gardeners simply allow annuals to die, collecting seeds if possible for next year. You can also dig them up, place them in flower pots, and bring them indoors. Be sure to keep them on a bright southern or eastern-facing window and use supplemental artificial plant lights if necessary to keep them healthy. Even with the best care, many summer flowering annuals just don't like to be indoors, but you can easily replace them next year.
The perennial family of flowers is huge, with thousands of different plants. Nature intends perennials to return year after year, growing from the same root stock as the previous year. To ensure the roots remain healthy through the cold winter months, apply a thick layer of natural mulch such as wood chips or bark around the plant. Cut back any dead branches or flowers and discard them. Dead leaves, branches and flowers can harbor insects or microbes that can attack the plant next spring.
Perennial Flowers
Tree Roses

Tree roses are summer plants that need special care. Wrap the trunks in special paper, available at garden centers, and use burlap to wrap the crown portion. Dormant plants kept in large pots or tubs can be moved into garages or other shelters if necessary.
Tropical Plants and Houseplants

Both tropical plants and houseplants must be moved indoors in the fall before the cold weather strikes your area. Neither can spend the winter outdoors. Be sure to spray the plant with a stream of water before moving it indoors to remove any insects, and inspect the pot carefully for insect larvae and other hitchhikers before moving the plant inside. The warmth indoors may encourage your unwanted guests to hatch and settle into your home for the winter, too.
Other Winter Plant Care Tips

During the winter months, you do not need to water your outdoor plants. Let nature take care of the watering. When plants are dormant in the winter, their water needs are considerably less than during the active periods of growth and reproduction during the summer months.

Take special care of strawberry plants, whose crowns freeze below 20 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Layer straw mulch on strawberry plants after the first cool weather occurs.

Tender herbs require a cloche or covering over them to protect them from frost. Rosemary benefits from a cloche and can be wintered over in the garden with some covering. Oregano, mint, and similar herbs may go dormant but usually do not require much winter protection. Basil should be treated like an annual plant and either moved indoors or allowed to die naturally; you can easily replace it in the spring.

Nature gave plants the ability to withstand the natural seasonal weather in the plant's original habitat. Any non-native summer plants such as many annual flowers, tender perennials, houseplants and tropical plants require special care, so take steps now to ensure health plants year-round.