Would you have thought that the lantern flower with its delicate lantern flowers is hardy? In fact, you can leave the picturesque perennial outside in the winter. Simple protective measures are sufficient. You can find out here how to successfully overwinter Chinese lanterns in beds and pots.
The lantern flower cuts a fine figure, especially in the white snow
Overwinter the lantern flower in the bed
The Chinese lantern is a deciduous perennial of the Physalis genus. Leaves, flowers and stems slowly die off in winter. The rhizomes in the ground, on the other hand, are hardy and will sprout again the following spring. On the way there, fading lanterns on dried-up stalks set decorative accents in the swept-empty garden and at the same time protect the roots from the biting frost. This is how you overwinter a lantern flower in the bed properly:
- Cut back in late winter: Do not prune perennial until February/March
- winter protection: Cover the root disc with leaves and brushwood before the onset of winter
- Winter location outdoors: sheltered from wind and rain in a corner or in front of a wall
- pour: Water the lantern flower in winter when it is dry on frost-free days
- Don't fertilize: do not apply fertilizer from September to March
If you don't value the distinctive winter aspect, cut back dead lantern flowers in the bed as early as November.
Overwinter the lantern flower in the pot
In the bed, lantern flowers are unpopular because the perennials like to grow rampant. Hobby gardeners thwart their invasive ambitions and plant lantern flowers in pots. When winter knocks at the garden gate, you have these two options for overwintering a lantern flower in a pot:
- Grant: Flowers in pots overwinter in a frost-free room such as a basement, garage or garden shed
- winter protection: Place the pot on a piece of wood, wrap it up thickly in fleece, cover the substrate with straw, bark mulch or leaves
- winter care: water very sparingly, do not fertilize from the end of September to the end of March
If you overwinter lantern flowers indoors, cut back the dead shoots to ground level before putting them away. If you decide on a winter place under the open sky, ideally postpone the perennial pruning until late winter.
tips
The bright orange lantern flowers add the finishing touch to dried bouquets. Hang a freshly picked bouquet upside down in a dark, airy place to dry. Spraying with hairspray improves the durability of the filigree lanterns for creative decoration ideas in the home decorated for autumn.