10/20/2026
Some great tips on overwintering plants you get this Saturday at the market. Thank you Floyd Native Plants.
This is a reminder about the Native Pollinator Plant Giveaway this Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 10:30 am at the Floyd Farmers Market. It may feel late in the year to adopt plants, but you can overwinter them in their pots if you need more time to prepare places for them or if you worry they won't put down roots before freezing and thawing heave them up (which can kill young plants). Scroll down for tips.
Plants in this giveaway include: Asclepias incarnata (Swamp/Rose Milkweed), Coreopsis lanceolata (Lanceleaf Coreopsis), Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower), Helenium autumnale (Helen's Flower, Sneezeweed), Monarda fistulosa (Wild Bergamot), and Symphyotrichum oblongifolium (Aromatic Aster).
Overwinter perennial pots outdoors, in a sheltered location that nonetheless receives natural precipitation. Water regularly until temps drop below freezing, then refrain from watering until early spring/late winter. If you must water during the winter, do not water when temperatures will drop below freezing within 24 hours. Mounding mulch around the pots and making sure mulch and pots are damp when temps drop will almost guarantee your perennials' survival.
Snow and ice don't hurt perennials--when it's cold, snow and ice provide insulation, when warm enough to melt, it waters the pots, melting and draining in sync with the temps, unlike water that you might pour in them which can freeze to a solid block of ice before draining and suffocate the roots.
Perennials need a period of cold sub-freezing temperatures, and some moisture, which is why storing them in the basement will kill them. They also shouldn't be dried out or triggered to break dormancy during the winter by setting in a sunny south-facing location, or kept indoors in a warm location. Outdoor north facing locations in part shade and sheltered from the wind, mounded around with mulch, and exposed to natural preciptation has worked year after year for me.
