Will they come back next year

Hi

During the summer months this year I had a go at bringing some colour to parts of my garden, mainly the part I sit in on nice sunny days facing due south.

I bought a few hanging baskets and wall troughs with plants that I thought were easy to keep as a beginner; petunias, begonias marigolds and geraniums to name a few, now they are coming to an end will they all need throwing away or will they come back next year please.

Trish

 

They certainly look lovely and inviting Trish ... but I think they are all annuals with you. The Begonias are probably corms you could overwinter and the Geraniums/Pelargoniums could be cut back and survive in a conservatory. However, someone in the UK will come along and advise you more correctly.

 

@Victoria you're right.

 

The marigolds are a proper annual, so they will go. The pelargoniums(the not geraniums!) and the petunias can be kept going if frost free. it's well worth making the effort to take them indoors to a bright location for the winter months. they should carry on flowering right through the colder months. The begonia will die down to a corm(bulb type thing) over winter, you then can restart next year.

 

I've had well over 40 Pelargoniums for the last 5 years and they get dug up ,cut back by half, potted up and overwintered in the cold frame. So far I've not lost one. I also take cuttings late summer/ very early Autumn, but these go into our bubble wrapped unheated greenhouse for their first winter.

Tuberious rooted Begonias can be overwintered in a cool dark place, if you live in milder parts you could chance leaving them insitu.
Fiberious rooted ones can be dug up ,trimmed and take into the house during the Winter.

Marigolds are annuals and will die but you could let them go to seed and then harvest them to sow next year.

Petunias can be overwinterd in a frost free place, but I've had low survival rates.

 

Sheesh, I am so pleased I don't have to go through the rigmarole of overwintering things.

 

It's not that bad really, you get into a routine ,.
But yes you are very fortunate with your lovely climate Vicky.

 

That's the challenge you're missing out on.

I'd only bother with the Begonias and Geraniums (pelargoniums) the rest probably are not worth bothering with and to be honest, unless you like doing it its probably easier to just buy new next year.

 

If I was to keep them until next year how should I do it, should I just cut the tops off and leave the roots in the compost and pot, or take the roots out of the compost and leave them to dry and replant next year.

 

Stop watering the begonias and put them under cover so the pots can dry out.
After a while the stems will fall off, you can then dig out the tubers and put them in paper bags, storing frost free but cool until next spring.

The Geraniums are different, slowly allow them to dry out at which point you can cut them back a bit to tidy them up, store them again in a cool dry place, frost free, or you could bring them into the house and grow them on the window sills for the winter.

 

There are a couple ways with Pelargoniums, as you have rightly mentioned, personally speaking I'm unsuccessful with the dry method...don't know why as my Mum always adopted that method with perfect results.

I trim mine all back by half, repot as all mine are in the borders, and place in my cold frame. I check on them regularly as at first you can get mouldy leaves that require quick removal. They will continue to flower but I remove all the buds to conserve energy for the coming cold months....if you decide to bring them indoors, as a lot do then you can continue to enjoy their flowers.