Pollinators, pottery, soil overwinter - Ask Extension
I’d like to leave habitat of spent mums and geraniums available for pollinators over winter. Do any use these plants for overwintering? I’d also p...
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Pollinators, pottery, soil overwinter #922690
Asked December 05, 2025, 6:01 PM EST
I’d like to leave habitat of spent mums and geraniums available for pollinators over winter. Do any use these plants for overwintering? I’d also prefer to not leave my nicest ceramic pots outside in order to minimize freezing and expanding. I’d like to reuse the soil in spring. Can I cut the plants off at base and leave them outside? Do they need to be stationary/upright in order to keep the insects healthy?
Thank you for your help!
Baltimore County Maryland
Expert Response
We don't know if any species use those two non-native plants in particular, but if you want to keep the plant debris outside after it's removed from the pots, that's fine. We don't think there are any stem-nesting bees in mum or annual geranium stems, but their orientation (upright or not) likely doesn't matter too much in this case.
Miri
Miri
