Hey Julie, I was through Lewiston just yesterday on my way home from New York. We are in a similar growing zone, although yours may be a little warmer, depending on the wind. Ruth Ann, in Burlington Ontario, is a wonderful expert in our area in the growing and wintering of brugmansia. Hopefully, she will add her comments as well. You mention that you have 8 brugs (ecuador white) and that it is now getting into the 40's here at night. When it gets cold here and near the freezing/frost point, I always take mine indoors or at least cover them for the night. Tonight, it is supposed to be close to freezing here, and clear, so I have taken most of mine inside, and covered those that I want to keep that I have not yet brought inside. These I put into my garage, and have started to trim off the leaves to force dormancy. I will be washing them several times to get rid of bugs, and spraying them as well. I keep most of mine in a cold cellar with no light, but it does not freeze there. I usually also take a few cuttings, ....just in case. These I keep in my basement under florescent lamps. I do have to watch these for spider mites, and spray often to keep the mites in check. You mention that your garage can get quite cold. If it freezes, and your brugs are in there, they will not survive, so you must be aware of what you need to do. They should be brought indoors. Try to get some 4 foot florescent lamps from a recycle shop or some other economical source ( friends?) It is not too difficult to wire them up to a timer for the winter. I usually cut the foliage off, even if I take the plant indoors. They will drop the foliage at any rate because the intensity of the light is different from outside. Your question about the coolers is an interesting one. Personally, I think that the closed coolers may set up a humidity problem and mold would set in. In my mind, that would surely be detrimental to the health of the plant. You mentinon that your basement is heated. How hot? Is there a cool spot? I found a space in the corner of mine that is good for my brugs. You asked if you should try bring a few of those 5 down to the basement anyway. I would. If you make a few cuttings, and get them going, and all survive, you will have extra to make plant trades in the spring. That is what I do anyway with my brugs and also my dahlias. Before I bring my plants indoors, I always give them a good blast with the hose, then spray with an insecticide of some sort, and then blast again with the hose. All this AFTER I have removed most of the leaves. Remember to wash your hands after trimming the plant. Better safe than sorry. An interesting question about the roots in the pots. If you have some pots that are just a little bigger, feel free to repot. However, if the plant goes dormant, then repotting should not be necessary until the spring. If they are only 1 gallon pots though, I am concerned that they might not be large enough. So many factors are dependent here. The temperature of the place where you are going to store them, the amount of light you are going to give them. IF you are going to take them indoors and try to keep them alive and growing in the north-west light, then I would definitely repot them. Of course space is a factor as well. If you have any variegated brugs, I have found that they do not take well to going dormant. I always keep mine going throughout the winter. They are in larger pots though. When I put them outside in the spring for their summer residencey, I usually just sink the pot into the ground. In the fall, I clip off the roots that have gone outside the pot, and then trim the leaves back, take to the cold cellar (non freezing), water once every 3-4 weeks sparingly, and then start them up again in early May. Best of luck.

Hi Kristy - To put it simply. They do 2 different jobs. Mulch must be dry like leaves, sphagnum moss mats (new) or wood (really dry wood chips). The idea being to let the water pass through and protect it from being evaporated during the summer and in winter, to keep the ground a longer consistent temperature. It helps conserve and keep available water during the summer. The idea for winter purposes being that when the ground freezes the mulch will keep it frozen like a thermal blanket to keep the cold in. It's the fluctuating temps in fall and spring that can kill our plants. Keeping them frozen prevents root rot and such. Compost on the other hand is mainly used for nutrition. If you bury your plants in soil or compost you'll kill your crown type of plants, which is just about everything left out there for the winter. I'm referring to those types of plants that can only be planted in only so deep. Composting is an issue every year. For next season, I would need to throw out soil as there's no room left for compost. Otherwise, I'd have to uproot all of my plants, remove all the top soil and dig out some clay and/or bedrock and turn the compost in with last years top soil and replant everything. As ideal, in one way, as that is, that's not going to happen. The spring before last, compost was basically put on top and trenching developed aroung each plant, made with a wall of mud away but around the plants' main roots to allow the water to be focused on the plant's roots and to let the compost eventually leach into the earth when it rains. I'm sure my mud walls broke down and killed a few. Now there's just too much dirt and I'm not going to keep shocking my plants with transplanting or cutting it in around my roots. So I have to stick with fertilizer from here on in. In a nut shell, you just can't throw compost on top to serve as the blankie. Sorry John, I like the idea of doing 2 things with one work but no....can't make a done job out of next year's job with this winter's job. Blankie now, feed next year. We sympathize with you though -Sandy

Barb-Inccense is very difficult to re-root. Out of maybe 6 or 7 I dig up, I will maybe get 1 or 2. That's how I got yours. The more roots the better, I moisten them, dust the roots with root tone and stick in moist soil and keep in shade and protected from butterflies with netting and screen. Keep them moist to wet. And wish for the best. SOmetimes they will drop all leaves and turn brown. Leave them for a while and keep wet, they may be concentrating on their roots and send up another green sprout from the root. ps. we missed you today! Jan has some goodies I for brought you.

They have the heel inserts that might work. And, you can buy a narrower heel in your shoes -- example: A width with a AA Heel? Of course that doesn't help with already owned shoes. :) I have never tried the heel inserts but they look like they might work. They fit into the heel of your shoe, and have sides going up them. Dr. Scholl's I believe.