I'm with you on the needing a rest part. I'm ready too. I have done some really big projects in the garden this summer and I'm ready for some indoor activities now. The hibiscus needs to come in, or at least move up onto the porch. I'm not bringing in the brugs this year though, I'm just cutting them back to the ground and mulching them. I have a few small things I will pot up and bring in, but most of my plants are perinneals and hardy here. Cheryl

I don't have any terra cotta pots, but just this morning was realizing I'd better watch for freeze advisories and harvest the end of the tomatoes.

I still want to move some irises - I limbed up my crabapple tree last week, and I want to plant the newly open area with some of my irises that weren't happy in their old spots.

I was wondering the same thing myself. I usually bring in the pots when I wake up and my veggie garden has gotten hit by frosts. I have some Pelargoniums and tender plants in my terra cottas that I have to bring in anyway. It sure is difficult luggin in those pots though!
CMK

"It sure is difficult luggin in those pots though!"

Yeah, and it gets more difficult every year. ha. Some of mine are accents only, not planted. Others have herbs or geraniums in them, and I don't have room in my house to bring pot and all in. The pink geranium I brought in last fall because it was so big and still so beautiful, is twice as big now and still going strong except for sprawling in all directions. Haven't made up my mind what to do; may just cut it back and bring it in again.

Well, I do want to finish one more stone wall before November, then I will TRY and rest.

Hi everyone! I don't know why I haven't explored this forum before, but I'm happy I got my fill of some others here on GW and came over! You all seem like a very friendly bunch, so I thought I'd introduce myself!

I hear you on needing a break. While I need a break physically, I think it's the mental break I need most of all. It has been a big year for me out in my little yard! Pond has been refurbished, extended beds, laid sod, built new beds, built new steps...more?!?!? Now I feel like going in and changing it all, so I think I need the winter to "sleep" on it!

At least I have a pretty short list of winterizing tasks:
Pond, dig Dahlias, one potted Brugmansia to bring in, protect hydrangeas, clean up & new compost pile.

Take care everyone!
Janelle

-schoolhouse, ha! Im afraid to even leave the pots in the shed. When you pay over twenty bucks for a pot you are apt to be a little worried when cold weather comes! I have to lug mine up three concrete steps, then down a flite of stairs to the basement! I better start pumping some iron pretty soon...

-Janelle, I know I speak for everyone when I say glad to have you!
I live in Spokane, what part of WA do you live in if you dont mind my asking?
Happy Gardening!
CMK

Has anyone ever used a sealant on their terra cotta pots and left them outside over the winter? I did this with a few pots and it seemed to work, can't remember the name of the stuff I used, this was a few years back.

Janelle, welcome to the forum/family :o)

Annette

Never tried a sealant. One of my favorite terra cotta urns was made to look antique and had a dark finish with greenish
moss-like pieces on it. I guess I left it out too long one year; because when I went to lift it, the top half was in my hands and the bottom half was still on the ground. Didn't have the heart to pitch it, so I just put the two halves together each Spring and it stays intact the whole season! Not even glued. I even planted Sage in it this year.

Oh, and hi Janelle, didn't mean to ignore you.

I have 8 smaller terra cotta pots on a table on the deck.
They are well aged and they're all different sizes from about 6 inches across down to 2 inches. They're shaped different as well.

I'll be sure to listen for/read about frost reports.

Libby

Welcome, Janelle - you are right - no wasted energy on egos here. We just like to share our gardens, our thoughts, and our woes - like hauling pots. All but one of my bigs guys, oh wait, 3 of my big guys (sigh) are in as they have tropicals in them. Schoolhouse - I have a salmon/white double geranium that just had its's 3rd summer outside. Massive, and quite a statement at the front door. It is in about a 20" terracotta, which needs to come in. I wait till mid-winter to shape it, and then have lots of babies for friends and yard sales!!! When I bought the last house, I bought a good size hand truck, which along with bungie cords is great to moving the heavies around. I have no DH (sob), so me and Archimedes move lots of stuff. The cats are no help at all!! I do have some pots from Vietnam that look sealed, and said 'frost-proof' when I bought them. You guys in Zone 5 have the same freeze/thaw cycles that I have - I think that is the worst for the pots. However, I have left many empty and tipped, outside with little ill effect. The soil is great to rake into the lawn!!

Oh, and Janelle, join us on the conversation side on Saturdays and Sundays for the most devilish trivia ever committed, by our own Thinman!!!

Nancy.

Oh wonderful welcomes! Yeah, I think this is the friendliest group I've met!

christinmk: Hello fellow Spokanite! I do believe you are the first G Webber I've met who lives in my hometown! Too cool! Check out my page for a bio, or ask away!

midnightsmum: *gasp* I've NEVER been to "the conversations side" before! Had to go look for it before I responded, I'd seen the link but never clicked on it. Cool, I'll have to check it out, thanks!

schoolhouse: No worries, I probably wouldn't have noticed had you not pointed it out! I appreciate the afterthought, however!

aftermidnight: HI! Nice to meet you!

Thanks for the friendly reception everyone!

It's always been my understanding that the freeze-thaw in our area is the pot-breaker. If the pots had annuals in them I dump the soil into a corner of a garden bed and rinse the pot before I tuck it away. If they're empty, you could probably get away with leaving them outside if you had to for some reason. In the long term though it's probably better to bring them out of the elements all together, don't you think? Don't have any experience with bigger pots or perennial/shrubs in pots to give any input there. I do however have experience shuttling big potted & BB trees around at work, and I find dollies and ball carts VERY useful! Ball carts are expensive, but are heavy duty and built for moving BB trees/shrubs, with a deep concave base which helps hold even a pot without having to use straps/rope or whatnot.

K, way longer than I intended! Later guys!

Here is a link that might be useful:

We are fortunate to have an egress window that we put pots of mint, lavender and whatever I decide to try to keep alive in. I bring in some herbs and my angel wing begonias to put in my garden window and wherever I can find room. One is in, and now that our nights are dipping into the 40s, I should get them all in, but it's so nice in the afternoons yet, that I want to keep them out as long as I can. It did get below 40 last night, though, and didn't seem to harm the plants. They are somewhat protected on our deck.

We put the empty pots in our shed or garage.

I also have some peppers I need to pick, chop, and freeze. My tomato plants are almost dead. They always get diseased and die before a freeze. I am still picking grape, yellow plum and another small, about 1 1/2 inch sized tomato I've never grown.

Hi Janelle, That ball cart looks really cool! I work with some special education high schoolers who would love to use that to run errands with.

Sue

I empty mine before I store them away,too. Sometimes it hard when, like lvtgrdn says, the afternoons are still nice; and the annuals in the pots are still blooming well enough.

-Sue that is so neat you have a window to keep things in! I just put a little wooden bookcase in the basement next to a window so I can try to overwinter a few things. It looks rather pitiful, but it will at least hold the red geraniums.

-Janelle, that is FANTASTIC! Every time I see someone from WA I look to see if they are in my area. You are the first that Ive seen from Spokane too! I hope you know what this means...;-) Oh, dont forget to go on the Gallery side of this forum too! Thats where we post pics. I would LOVE to see your garden!
Say, have you ever been to the Manito Park Plant Sales?
CMK

Yesh, I know what this MEANS! YAY! That's so great! I always look to see if WA folk are from Spokane too! Hence why I specified I'm in Eastern WA since so many people are from the West Side. So few people realize how different the climates are! Now we can share what's going on over on the desert side!

After my last response I went and checked out conversations, galleries and exchanges and a WHOLE NEW WORLD has been opened up to me!!! HAHAHAHAHA! I'm in a silly mood right now, so yeah...

Well, my garden kinda went to the dogs in the last month because we got busy at work. I have quite a bit of work to do! I should be out there right now even though it's gross out. I looked at some of my pics and thought about posting some, but they didn't look nice to me at the time. I'll look again! I can't remember if I saw any pics of your garden or not, I'm gonna go look around some more!

Anyhow, in my 25 years of life growing up here in Spokane, I have NEVER been to the Manito Park Plant Sales. This makes me lame. What are your favorite nurseries/garden centers?

Okay, as usual I'm long-winded...eep!

Janelle

Sorry your thread has been hijacked schoolhouse!

I cant belive it, but I just noticed I never included my e-mail address on my member page. I have put it up. If you like Janelle, we can discuss plants, local nurserys, our horrible pothole situation over here, etc. That includes everyone else too. ;-)
CMK

I know, I had the same thought on the rude hijacking of this thread! Sorry schoolhouse! Sorry everyone!

Yes please CMK :)

Eh - forget about it. I hijack alot when I get excited about something. ha.

I have had fun eves dropping on your conversation. I just wish there was someone within 50 miles of me. MeMo is the only one I know of who is in the same state I'm in, but I'm thinking she's pretty far away.

Sue

Annette, Although I haven't used a sealant, I have this column and pot that has sat in my garden for well over ten years. Both are made of painted Terra cotta reinforced with tar and horse hair. Mother bought it and had it shipped up from South America when she visited there in 1993. I have no clue how it is made but its black and matted on the inside. This was brought in every year until Mother became unwell. The dog knocked it over and smashed last Autumn and I glued it back together.

Other than the patched look, it fared very well over the winter and served me just fine holding a trailing lavender all summer. Of course, I'll bring it in this year, as I don't trust my patch work.

CMK, I harvested about eight green tomatoes and four peppers today. I spent the next few minutes cutting back any branch without the promise of fruit. I didn't have the heart to cut the pepper plant because it looks as if it wont give up baring fruit for a while yet. Besides, frost is expected here in Connecticut over the next few nights.

Schoolhouse, I have on a potting bench a group of about ten thin terra cotta pots all the size of my fist or slightly larger. Most are cracked or chipped from having been left out all year, but they still function. I also have huge pots and urns as well. All of them show neglect and some even have large chunks missing, lol. On the same note, I have one like yours that's severed in two and yet in its unglued state, it still grows plants for me.

To the rest of you I may not have responded to, hello, happy gardening.

Mihai

The shasta daisy in the orchard border, which I cut back in the Spring and which didn't bloom all summer (because of the cutting back?); is NOW blooming. The grass was getting high, so I decided to mow for what I hope is the last time, and there under the spent and flopping Black Eyed Susans was the shasta. The zinnias and cosmos seem to have gotten a second wind, too; so I'll put off cleaning up that bunch for a bit longer.

We've had frost warnings for the last two nights, so I got out the row cover for the lettuce; but I've seen no sign of Jack next morning. I may regret not bringing in the unplanted urns if it rains and freezes the water in them overnight; so, I guess I'll do that chore today.

And this year for the first time, I see salt bleed on my cast aluminum table and chairs in the garden. Anyone experience this with aluminum? The set is of a ornate "wrought iron" type pattern and has a beautiful bluish patina and is five years old. The salts (?) come off easily when you brush them with a finger. I store it every winter,too.

I brought in two of my big pots yesterday. They had tender pelargoniums in them that I want to overwinter if I can. Its supposed to get down to into the upper twenties at night by this weekend. Burrr...
Im debating what I want to do with my tomato that is potted in one of my terra cottas (that I have yet to bring in). The plant is still producing, so I dont want to just whack it back. But I dont want to leave the pretty pot out. Maybe I will transplant the tomato into the garden. Have you ever done that, transplanted a large tomato plant?
CMK

No, I've never transplanted a mature tomato plant from pot to garden; but I bet the Tomato forum people could help out in a flash.