Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill: How to Grow and Overwinter 165 Tender Plants

What a great idea for a book. Thank YOU, Alice and Brian! I was lucky enough to visit their nursery in slightly western Mass. a number of times and really appreciate that a lot of what they had to share then is in easy reference book form now. (In fact, I have a scented geranium that's the great-great-grandson of a purchase from them still.) There are lots of books that cover perennials, tender and otherwise, but they never seem to understand that not all gardeners live in California or have massive greenhouses. Alice details what constitutes sunny & warm vs. cool & bright so it's easy to figure out which corner or window in the house will best suit. Skeptic that I am, I checked first on her recommendations for the ones I've successfully overwintered: Agreed (tho I scored last year with my fuchsia when I trained a fan on them for air movement). Then I looked up the ones I'm edging toward the porch right now to figure out how to save them this winter. Ah: Move the lemon away from the hot window and into the cooler living room. Check. I highly recommend this book for those who want a pretty simple guide to propagation too -- as Alice writes, "overwintering small plants...is actually a lower-maintenance alternative." Great book, and certainly not just for us miserly New Englanders!

Got this for Christmas, and I know I will use it a lot. Am already debating which tender perennials to try for 2009. Thunbergia alata? Moonflower? And who knew that Saliva guaranitica and mirabilis can be overwintered as tubers? This book is a godsend in an economy where dollars must be stretched.

Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (12/08) "Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill" by Alice and Brian McGowan provides information on "how to grow and overwinter 165 tender plants." After a little bit of history about the authors and their beginnings, the book dives into an explanation as to just what a tender perennial is. Being new to gardening, I found this explanatory section helpful to establish a foundation of knowledge on the subject. A tender perennial is "a plant that, though hardy in its original habitat, will not survive the winter outdoors in the climate of the gardener." (p.14) Also in the first section is a discussion about the origins of different perennials and how they come from all over the world. It makes sense to think about where a plant is originally from in order to determine how it would be best to grow it and keep over the winter. I find it fascinating that (with the right care) you can have plants originally from different parts of the world growing right in your very own backyard. The authors state that only growing hardy plants, while it "simplifies gardening activities," does put a limit on the options available to you and then they go on to present reasons as to why you should try tender perennial gardening. In order to successfully do this you need to be aware of the variety of ways that you can overwinter your plants. Different types of plants will do best in certain circumstances. For instance, citrus plants like areas that are cool with bright light, whereas dahlias prefer areas that are dark and damp. Although I found the first half of the book to be very interesting and came away with a lot of knowledge about plants, I really enjoyed the second half of the book, which examines the various types of tender perennials available, and includes pictures, design ideas, and information on how to overwinter each of them. There are so many pretty and different varieties of tenders available that I am truly inspired to give overwintering a try. "Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill" provides so many useful tips and instruction that I am sure I will be referring to it often on my quest to beautifully landscape my yard!

This book answers the many questions that gardeners have who wish to carry over their tender plants from one year to another. Why throw away those lovely geraniums and dahlias and tender bulbs when they can be grown and flowered over and over. Look at it as a very environmentally friendly practice that doesn't require recycling your hard-earned dollars. And these suggestions are not gotten from other sources like many books written by so-called professionals. They are gleaned from actual experience gained from years of bringing many previously thrown away plants back into bloom.