What we do for our plants! (bonus post!)

Yesterday's blog post included dozens of photos of the magic that is Daniel Sparler's plant collection—many of them in containers. As I edited down my photos I realized there was no greenhouse on the property, what does he do with all of those containers over the winter? I asked. After all I figured my readers would be curious too. Daniel gave me permission to share his reply. I know it had me feeling much better about the crazy steps I go through to keep my plants happy!

From Daniel (slightly edited): "We winterize in stages (as I'm sure you do, too), beginning in late October by carting inside the lowland tropical plants that won't go outside again until April. That's around 200 items. Half end up in the living room or kitchen, the other half in the cooler and more humid improvised greenhouse downstairs. The bulk of the containers, however, (another 300+) live outside --except during periods of hard freeze-- either on the covered back porch and the large lanai, or clustered under the wide eaves of our midcentury modern house or near the garage door. As we were going to be out of town for most of December, we lugged them all into warmer shelter (seven distinct areas, listed below) at the end of November, pulling them back out just after Xmas when the moderate temps returned. Due to the recent cold snap, we dragged them all back inside last Friday afternoon and Saturday morning for a few days of peaceful coexistence before we'll take them back outside on Wednesday."

But wait! It gets even better! There is a count (remember when I did a container count on plant lust?) and photos! Again, from Daniel: "Instigated by your question, I took a quick and dirty census of containers in the aforementioned zones. Here's what I found (estimated totals, probably a slight undercount)":

Living Room: 150

Downstairs Den: 40

You may recall I said there was no greenhouse, well I meant a freestanding "house" out on the property somewhere. It turns out there is a makeshift version. From Daniel: "We do have an improvised workaround that functions like a greenhouse, in that 25 years ago we walled in a corner of our covered downstairs porch with a salvaged sliding glass door, stuck in two grow lights and an oscillating fan, and… voila! —an ersatz greenhouse. Won’t win any beauty prizes, but it does the trick."

Improvised greenhouse: 150

Kitchen: 20 (no photo)

Garage: 175

Laundry Room: 15 containers of winter dormant begonias

Succulent bed: 25 (small containers tucked inside the protective panels along with the large, in-ground aloes and agaves)

Cold Frame: 40

This totals around 600, about 100 of which are seedlings or cuttings in plastic liners. The remainder are "permanent" clay or stoneware/ceramic pots. Whew! ... Aren't we getting too old for this?

Honestly sometimes I suspect that I am getting to old for this, but as long as I can, I will! Thanks Daniel, for helping me (and possibly others) to feel a little better about the lengths we go to for our plants.

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All material © 2009-2023 by Loree L Bohl for danger garden. Photos from Daniel Sparler, used with permission. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.