Yes, we need to know what types of plants you have in order to help.:) I have overwintered a whiskey barrel in the past. I cut the hardy plants back and dropped them in the bottom. Get yourself a completely submersible titanium aquarium heater (don't use the glass ones!) rated for the number of gallons of the barrel. Stick it in the barrel and plug it in. It will keep the barrel from freezing. It won't heat it up warm but it will keep it warm enough to prevent freezing.

I have 3 fig cuttings from last year, they are about 12 inches tall. They dropped their leaves in the fall and I wintered them in the garage. I watered them about once a month in the winter. I just looked at them today and noticed there were some new leave tips at a the very top, which have dried out and the stem is dried out also, Should I water and trim off the dried out stem. Also when is a good time to put the pots outside. I don't plan on planting them in the ground but want to keep in pots for awhile. Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.

To the last three posters.......you have asked questions on a thread that is 6 years old. The chances of you getting a response when tacking onto a very stale thread tend to be rather slim :-) Posters who would be inclined to provide the answers you need usually ignore or overlook such old threads, especially on this forum, which doesn't get a lot of traffic. The only reason I bothered to open the thread at all was because I was curious as to why it was still getting attention six years later. There are many different types of verbena so I'm going to make a guess that the type you 3 are asking about is Verbena x hybrida or what are typically sold as annual bedding plants in most of the country. Like any annual, they are cold sensitive and won't put out much growth or flower buds if the temps are too low (in the 40's at night). They are also not happy in excess heat and will tend to stop flowering in high temps but will resume again once temperatures moderate in fall or with cooler weather. Some forms of x hybrida are quite upright, mounding plants and others are trailing varieties -- those that are trailing forms will have long drooping stems and are ideal for hanging baskets. They need a fair amount of sun to bloom well, even watering (not too much nor too little) and not a great deal of fertilizing - too much fertilizer will produce lush foliage at the expense of blooms. Verbena grown in a container or hanging basket will need more frequent fertilizing, but use a dilute formulation. Pinching back growth early in the season will encourage bushiness. Deadhead the spent flowers by pinching off to improve and tidy the appearance and encourage continued flower development. I wouldn't bother to attempt to winter over in zones lower than 9 - these are inexpensive plants and not worth the extra effort. You can save seeds in late season and sow indoors in late winter but as these are hybrids, there is no guarantee that what results will look like what you had growing the previous season.

It would be too late in the season for it to acclimate even if you did fine a good spot to plant it. I'd cut it back some and treat it as a houseplant. I have all of mine inside under HID lights and they are blooming like crazy. This is the first year that I've used MH bulbs and it's making a world of difference. In previous years I'd cut them back and they'd limp along over the winter, even in the greenhouse, but perked up when they went back outside. I didn't bother to cut them back this year except to take some cuttings to propagate and they are thriving inside with the HID lights.