The Madman Is Fussing Over His Plants

It’s almost two weeks into the new year, and the madman is fussing over his plants. He used to refer to this time as the Dark Days of Winter. Not anymore. His succulents have introduced him to a whole new way of thinking.

Some of his plants are sending up flower shoots – and, they only do that when increased daylight nudges them out of dormancy. I suspect that some of his indoor-only plants never reach full dormancy, but I’ll probably never know for sure. Anyway, they are getting more light.

In fact, the madman told me that we have gained 15 minutes of sunlight since Christmas. That may not sound like a lot to you, but for “Spike” the Aloe, it was enough to send up a flower shoot. And the succulent shoots are our signal to pay more attention to all the plants we brought into the house, the greenhouse, the basement, the spare bedrooms, the garage/music room … You get the picture; we have plants all over and it’s time for us to give them some TLC.

Flower Show

In past years, the madman would be fussing and fretting over which succulents would make the trip to the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show. With COVID hanging over us, we aren’t sure if any of them will make the trip this year. But he’s acting like they will all go, so the madman is fussing over his plants. To his credit, he never limits his fussing to just his precious succulents – he also pays attention to the citrus and other potted plants that spend the winter in the house.

Since a lot of our potted plants will not survive a Zone 6 winter, we bring them inside. If you listen to experts, they will give you a lot of good reasons to surround yourself with plants. We do it simply because we like it. But, we realize that keeping them all happy can be a challenge since they are native to different parts of the world. Knowing their native growing conditions makes it easier to take care of each plant variety. We tend to group our plants by their winter care needs – succulents here, citrus there, dormant exotics in the basement, herbs in the breezeway… This is not a perfect system and throughout the winter, plants are often moved to a new location or given supplemental light.

Overwintering Plants

In Blog #10 Overwintering Plants, we talked about how we prepare our plants for coming indoors. As usual, last fall we inspected, soil drenched and cleaned anything earmarked for the house or greenhouse. Since the plants were mostly dormant for the past couple of months, they didn’t need much care – occasional water and some water spritzing for plants like Rosemary. Now, as the days get longer, we need to focus on their growing needs.

I guess that’s why the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show was such a good thing for us. Back in the old days, we pretty much ignored our plants until it was time to move them outside. Of course, we watered them, but that was about all. Looking back on it, it’s a wonder any plants survived.

Tough Conditions

During the winter, growing conditions are tough for any indoor plant. The heat is on, the atmosphere is dry and air flow is unpredictable. You may notice that a thin layer of dust lands on your furniture. Guess what? That same dust also lands on your plant leaves. While the dust just looks bad on your furniture, it can actually harm your plants.

As it builds up on the leaves, this dust is effectively blocking sunlight, and, at this time of the year, we need all the sunlight we can get – both us and the plants. So, when you dust your furniture, dust your plants, too. Better yet, wipe the leaves with a wet cloth. Or put them in the shower and give them a quick rinse.

Inspection, Or Is It Fussing?

When the madman first began showing his plants in the Standard Flower Show, a part of the Hartford Flower Show, he realized how important this mid-winter inspection was. He cut back the dead growth, snipped off spent flowers and thoroughly cleaned each plant and its pot. Wow! How sharp they looked – not like their dusty cousins back on the windowsill. Now, it is habit and I often find the madman fussing over his plants.

Then came the constant search for bugs. All plants entered in the Standard Flower Show are subjected to a rigorous inspection before they are allowed to be placed in the competition area. The madman lived in fear of rejection. One stray aphid could send him and his beautiful specimens out the door.

Citrus Have Problems

As we said before, lucky for me his fussing over the succulents carries over to all the plants in the house. The Citrus seem to give us the most problems, especially the larger ones. These plants prefer a mild, moist winter with 8 hours of sunlight. Try doing that in New England in the winter. Especially in the house. Since the madman enjoys his citrus collection, we do the best we can. These guys are in pots, so we have to be careful watering them – they like moist but hate dry or soggy. Try balancing that act.

In the Florida Citrus groves, one of the biggest insect pests is the larvae of the Giant Swallowtail Butterfly. The madman would love to have that problem – instead, we struggle with scale. The madman never bothered to learn the Scientific Nomenclature of these nasty suckers since they all get the same treatment – death. The key to control is catching them early; we know our Citrus get scales – the question is when, not if.

Looking For Scales

I often find the madman inspecting the top and bottom of individual leaves. At one time I thought he just liked the smell of citrus, but now I know he’s looking for scales or their telltale sign – honeydew. Honeydew is the clear sticky substance left behind as the scales feed. It provides the perfect base for the growth of sooty mold, an ugly black coating on the leaves that truly blocks sunlight. Constant vigilance, careful watering and occasional showers are the key to getting Citrus through the winter.

Truth be told, that care is pretty much the same for all the plants inside. For the herbs in the breezeway, we change the occasional showers to frequent misting. For years we kept the Rosemary in the kitchen – made sense, it’s a kitchen herb. But the plants always came down with a bad case of powdery mildew; sometimes fatal, sometimes not. Once we moved the Rosemary out to the breezeway with the Bay Laurels, it has done much better. In fact, quite a few Rosemarys survive the winter for us now – it has to be the improved air exchange.

Mediterranean Natives

Both the Bay Laurel and Rosemary come from the Mediterranean area where winters are mild and wet. Wet being the key. Since they hate to sit in water, we mist them as often as we think of it. At Christmastime, I cut sprigs of Bay and Rosemary to use as package decorations (that darned madman gets pretty fussy!) For the most part we don’t bring other herbs inside – Sage, Parsley and Lavender do quite well outside over the winter and the rest grow easily from seed. Remember, the madman likes to keep things simple.

But, things do get a bit hectic here when the madman wakes up on January 1 and realizes the Flower Show arrives in less than two months and he needs to select his show specimens. As we mentioned earlier, the specter of COVID may keep us away. But, for right now, the madman is fussing over his plants – treating 2022 like any other year.

Fussing is always best followed by hot cocoa.