Many perennials grow just as well in a pot by a window as they do in a garden bed. Tender perennials, the ones that are not cold-hardy in most climates, can be moved indoors for the winter to keep them thriving. Some of these plants go dormant indoors, while others keep pushing out new growth all winter. Moving potted plants inside for the cold months, a process known as winterizing, works for both perennial and annual varieties, and the results depend on matching each plant to the room where it will live.
Growth habits vary widely between species, and some perennials sleep much longer than others, so a little research before you buy saves a lot of disappointment in February. The transition indoors follows the same methods gardeners use to grow a tropical indoor garden, and the expert tips from This Old House apply to a rescued hibiscus just as well as they do to a dedicated plant room.
This article covers the practical side of wintering perennials indoors: which plants to choose, how to move them without shock, how to manage light, water, humidity, and dormancy, and when to send them back outside in spring.
Choose Perennials That Fit Your Indoor Conditions
The most common failure is buying a plant for its garden performance and then placing it where it can never get enough light. Match the plant to the room first. A south-facing window delivers the brightest light and suits flowering perennials, east and west windows give medium light for foliage plants, and a north window supports only low-light species.
Before you buy anything, learn how to care for houseplants like a pro, because the essential tips for healthy indoor plants apply to every perennial you bring inside. The short version: light decides whether a plant thrives, water decides whether it survives your attention, and pot size decides how fast it grows.
Tender Perennials vs. Hardy Perennials
Hardy perennials survive winter outdoors in your zone and do not need to come inside. Tender perennials die at the first hard frost, so they are the real candidates for indoor wintering. Some tender types, like tuberous begonias, drop their leaves and rest; others, like hibiscus, keep growing if they get enough light. The table below groups the most common perennials that winter well indoors.
| Plant group | Examples | Indoor light | Winter behavior | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical flowering | Hibiscus, mandevilla, bougainvillea | Bright, south window | Blooms on and off | Prune hard before moving inside |
| Geraniums | Pelargonium species | Bright | Semi-dormant | Pinch tips to keep plants compact |
| Begonias | Fibrous and tuberous types | Medium to bright | Tuberous types go dormant | Store tubers dry and cool |
| Fuchsias | Trailing and upright kinds | Bright, cool spot | Dormant | Keep soil barely moist |
| Herbs | Rosemary, bay, scented geraniums | Bright | Slow growth | Check weekly for spider mites |
| Ferns | Boston, maidenhair, birds nest | Medium | Steady growth | Use a humidity tray or mist |
Fast-Growing Tender Perennials
If you want quick results, start with tender perennials that fill a pot fast. Coleus, sweet potato vine, and inch plants root from cuttings in days, give color all winter, and replace themselves for free in spring.
- Check the mature size: a plant that grows six feet wide in the garden will need the same room indoors.
- Confirm the light needs match a window you actually have.
- Ask whether the species goes dormant, and what dormancy looks like indoors.
- Choose healthy stock with no yellow leaves or visible pests.
Transition Plants Indoors Without Shock
A sudden move from full sun to a dim living room shocks even sturdy plants. Leaves drop, growth stalls, and pests multiply in the stress. The fix is a gradual transition over a week or two, done in the order below.
- Inspect the plant and the pot rim for insects before anything moves indoors.
- Prune away dead stems and damaged leaves, and pinch back leggy growth.
- Check that the pot drains freely; add a saucer and refresh the top inch of soil if it has pulled away from the pot edge.
- Keep the plant in a shaded outdoor spot for three to five days to begin acclimating.
- Move it to a bright indoor location, then quarantine it away from existing houseplants for two to three weeks.
For gardeners whose past attempts ended in a compost bin, the honest starting point is a list of houseplants for people who can’t grow houseplants, which favors forgiving species over fussy ones. Master the easy plants first, then graduate to perennials with specific demands.
Quarantine and Pest Inspection
The two-week quarantine is the step most people skip, and it is the one that prevents an aphid outbreak from spreading to every plant in the house. Check the undersides of leaves, the leaf axils, and the soil surface.
Common Pests to Look For
| Pest | Where it hides | Signs | First treatment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aphids | New growth, buds | Sticky leaves, curled tips | Rinse with water, then insecticidal soap |
| Spider mites | Leaf undersides | Fine webbing, stippled leaves | Raise humidity, wash leaves, apply miticide |
| Mealybugs | Leaf axils, stems | White cottony clumps | Dab with alcohol on a cotton swab |
| Whiteflies | Leaf undersides | Tiny white insects that fly when touched | Yellow sticky traps, insecticidal soap |
Match Light and Water to Each Plant’s Needs
Winter light is the scarcest resource indoors. Days are short, the sun sits low, and window glass filters out part of the spectrum. South-facing windows earn the premium spots for flowering perennials, and a grow light makes the difference for everything else. Run grow lights 12 to 14 hours a day, a few inches above the foliage, and rotate pots a quarter turn each week so every side gets light.
Watering follows the plant, not the calendar. Most perennials want the top inch or two of soil to dry before the next drink, and dormant plants want much less. Push a finger into the soil; when it feels dry at knuckle depth, water until it runs from the drainage holes. Never leave pots standing in a full saucer.
Specialist plants keep their own rules, and the steps to grow and maintain a Venus flytrap at home show how far indoor care can go when you follow a species-specific routine. The same principle, reading the plant’s native habitat and replicating it, applies to every perennial you winter indoors.
Reading Leaves for Water Stress
- Yellow lower leaves with soft stems usually mean too much water; let the pot dry out.
- Crispy brown edges mean the air or soil is too dry; water and raise humidity.
- Sudden drooping can mean either extreme; check the soil before acting.
Water Quality
Tap water carries dissolved salts and chlorine that build up in pots over a winter. Sensitive plants do better with filtered water or rainwater collected in summer, and a monthly flush with plain water washes accumulated salts out of the soil.
Manage Humidity, Temperature, and Winter Dormancy
Heated rooms drop to 10 to 30 percent relative humidity in winter, while most tropical perennials prefer 40 to 60 percent. Low humidity shows up as brown leaf tips, dropped buds, and spider mite outbreaks. Grouping plants together, running a small humidifier, or setting pots on trays of damp pebbles all raise the moisture around the leaves.
For humidity-loving species, the essential care principles for high humidity indoor plants come down to three moves: group pots, add a water source nearby, and keep plants away from heat vents and radiators that dry the air.
Raise Humidity Without a Humidifier
Pebble Tray Setup
- Fill a shallow tray with pebbles and add water to just below the pebble tops.
- Set the pot on the pebbles, not in the water.
- Top up the tray as the water evaporates; the plant gets humidity without wet roots.
Misting helps for a few minutes at a time, so trays and grouping do more lasting good. A bathroom with a shower or a kitchen with a kettle gives humid-loving plants a natural winter home.
Dormancy Is Normal
When a tuberous begonia or fuchsia drops its leaves in November, it is resting, not dying. Move it to a cool, dim spot, stop fertilizing, and water just enough to keep the roots from shriveling. New growth in late winter signals the rest period is over.
Temperatures indoors should stay between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit for most perennials. Keep plants away from cold drafts at windows at night and away from radiators that scorch leaves. Tender species start to suffer below about 50 degrees.
Feed, Prune, and Refresh for Spring Growth
Fertilizer follows growth. Plants that are actively growing get a half-strength balanced feed once a month; dormant plants get nothing. Resume feeding in late winter when new leaves appear, and stop again in late fall for plants heading into rest.
As the days lengthen, fast-growing houseplants respond within weeks, and the same plants can rebuild a lush indoor garden in record time once light and feeding return.
A Monthly Winter Routine
- Week 1: check every plant for pests during watering.
- Week 2: dust the leaves and rotate the pots a quarter turn.
- Week 3: trim yellow leaves and pinch leggy stems.
- Week 4: feed actively growing plants at half strength.
Spring is also the time to repot. When roots circle the pot bottom or push through the drainage holes, move the plant one pot size up with fresh potting mix. Do the same for plants that have grown top-heavy.
Prepare Perennials for the Return Outdoors
When frost danger passes in spring, reverse the transition. Hardening off takes seven to ten days: set pots in a shaded spot for a few hours, add an hour of sun each day, and bring them back inside at night until they handle full exposure.
A hibiscus that spent two winters indoors can double as a small tree, and growing large houseplants well means staying ahead of the rootbound pot and the top-heavy canopy before the plant moves back outside.
Not every plant needs the trip. Hardy perennials that survived outdoors all winter stay outside, and only the tender stock, the potted geraniums, begonias, and tropicals, makes the spring journey. Watch the forecast, wait until the last frost date for your zone, and the same plants will come back inside next November, bigger and better every year.