Plant Talk Q&A | How to overwinter geraniums indoors

Q: I planted a Scarlet Sentinel columnar apple tree last year and got quite a few small apples, but several of them had brown spots inside. Perhaps this was due to apple maggot? I called the nursery where I bought the tree, and the person I spoke to said that, in his experience, columnar apple trees have more problems than regular ones.

A: It sounds as if the brown spots on your apples are probably a fungal disease. To find out for sure, and learn how to prevent this problem in the future, you can take a piece of the problematic fruit to a Master Gardener clinic so they can take a look and advise. Call 206-296-3440 to find a clinic that's convenient for you. In my own limited experience, and from what I can find in the literature, columnar apples don't seem to be any more disease-prone than other kinds of apple trees.

Q: As my garden is starting to wind down this fall, I'm hoping I can save my beautiful summer geraniums. They are common Pelargonium zonals (not true geraniums) and therefore not frost-hardy. Unfortunately, I don't have a greenhouse, but I do have a covered porch that is mostly out of the wind. Should I pot up my plants from the garden and keep them on my porch? If so, when? Or should I leave them in place, cover them during frost alerts and hope they survive?

A: Your fancy-leafed geraniums (which botanically are pelargoniums) won't survive winter outdoors, even if you cover them during frosts. You need to bring the plants inside before the first hard frost. This could be any day now, as Nov. 11 is the average kill date.

There are a couple of ways to overwinter geraniums indoors. You can pot them up, cut them back by half and bring them inside and keep them in a bright room. If your covered porch isn't fully enclosed, I doubt it'd be warm enough, especially if we have a cold winter. Water sparingly and check frequently for white fly infestation. If they stay healthy through the winter, you can plant them outside again in early May.

Or you can lift the plants out of the garden, shake the soil from their roots and stick them in a paper bag to store in a frost-free shed or the garage. Once a month during the winter, soak the roots of each plant for a couple of hours. In March, prune each plant way back and remove dead leaves (which will be most of them). Then pot up the plants, water thoroughly and keep them in a sunny window, and they should be growing fresh new leaves in time to move outdoors in early May.

Overwintering may be worthwhile if you want to grow lots of geraniums next summer. If you need only a few geraniums for pots or front-of-the-border, it may well be easier to buy them fresh every year, as the larger nurseries have a bountiful supply of plump, healthy plants in April and May.

Q: We're having a new deck built off the back of our house. My husband wants to use pressure-treated lumber, but I have my heart set on IPE wood. Would you recommend it?

A: IPE (pronounced E-pay) wood is beautiful, sustainable and durable. It naturally resists rot, insects, decay and mold. I've seen it used extensively as decks and to side houses, so it must have proved itself in our climate. Check out the Web site www.ipe-wood.com for more.

Valerie Easton also writes about Plant Life in Sunday's Pacific Northwest Magazine. Write to her at P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111 or e-mail planttalk@seattletimes.com with your questions. Sorry, no personal replies.