Coneflowers are hardy & should survive your winters in containers w/o protection as long as you don't allow them to go completely dry. They are very adaptable plants & will grow/flower well in most soils as long as they get adequate light. For containers, a soil that drains well & some care/attention to watering habits should serve you well. Try not to wet the plant's crowns more than can be helped (crown rot), & when planting/repotting/potting up, don't plant deeper than they were growing in the original container. Al

Mine stay in small clay pots. I have double glass doors going to the back deck and my winter plants stay there in a large rabbit cage. I have cats so the cage in necessary to keep plants safe.... one of my stupider cats will bite habenera peppers over and over. No lights so they get pretty sick and spindly in January. Days are getting longer so I have new leaves and flowers the last couple weeks! About 3 years on these plants. I have an unused LED grow light but as long as the plants are doing okay I can't see getting that out. Didn't even know I could keep them over winter until I read about it on gardenweb a couple years back. Because of my small pot size I have to use a very very weak water soluable fertilizer. I use the "bloom" builder as it has less nitrogen.

Thanks, Peg! I agree. The weather has been a bit... bizarre this year. Hopefully it's not a sign of things to come. Kms9: I'm a little depressed that I missed those at Lowes! I looked around this year for something more durable and wider for herbs (particularly mint), veggies, and annual plantings, but couldn't find anything worth the investment. I did read that plumeria roots grow outward rather than downward, so I'll definitely be on the search for something similar next year. I wonder how well they would work for a mini water garden. I saw one made out of a whiskey (I think) barrel somewhere and it looked neat. Aww. A gardener in training! That's adorable! Elucas101 & Jandey: Thank you! Laura: I wish that I couldn't believe it, but with the weather lately... Who knows what will happen. Come to think of it, the last November noreaster, that I can remember, did flood the garage. Ugh, not looking forward to this one. We're ready to run out and grab sand bags if things start going south. I'm sorry about your car! Why can't they design them so that all the important parts are waterproof? My father's car flooded and is experiencing electrical issues too. Sandy has been good to the automotive repair business. True, we're a bit accustomed to the flooding and winds here. I feel terrible for those up north that were blindsided. It's going to take a while for them to recover. Here's to hoping that they don't have a ton of snow dumped on them this year (knock on wood). After seeing your palms, I've been browsing through catalogs and sites to see what's available for this zone. I think I might be a potential palm addict! If only I had the space and conditions for them... The Plant Delights catalog had a nice selection. The fan palms looked awesome (particularly "Vulcano"). Who knows, I might be able to squeeze one in somewhere. Yes! I love DR's. I only have one right now that I grew from seed, but I have many seeds left so I think I'll start some more next year. If we could plant DR's and plumeria in the ground I'd have a small tropical forest! The few months of sharing the house with them isn't too bad considering how great they'll look come summer. I was raking pine straw again today. It never ends... The trees still have leaves. Ugh. I did manage to uncover another green tree frog! Poor thing, I hope its hibernation wasn't interrupted. Meh, what am I complaing about. It could be worse. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to treat for spider mites on overwintered plumeria? We brought the last of our house plants in last week (christmas cactus, spider plants, schefflera) and yesterday I noticed spider mites all over the plumeria leaves. They're in small clusters, so I'm sure they haven't been there long, but there are many clusters... I'm afraid this is just the beginning of something terrible.

Moses, I'm feeling better about what I have done so far - thanks for your advice. At mid February when I cut back the roses and mulched heavily I added Bayer 3 in one to the dirt under the mulch and worked it in well. I sprayed with Neem oil a week ago after seeing the blackspot - thinking that too much Bayer/etc would be overkill for right now. I just sprayed again with Neem during the last hour. We are due a thunderstorm and some rain tomorrow so it will probably get washed off. I would love to be able to use the good bacteria - especially preventively - if it will just work. the aphids are already here - I saw them under a microscope just before I decided to respray the Neem! Not too many - on the underside of the leaves here and there - but without spraying - tomorrow they will be feasting on all the buds! Thanks for your input - I also have been reading through the thrip/spider mites/midge thread - last year I "think" I had midges in one area - my round garden of Drift roses. I did conquer them with Spectricide spray - hated using it!! Denise