I don’t recall when I bought my pink gerbera daisy, but I am pretty sure it was at least 5-6 years ago, if not longer. It made a lovely addition to the deck display, and as the summer wound down, I wondered what to do. They’re annuals here in USDA Zone 6, so if I wanted to try and make it last, I needed to bring it indoors for the winter. Which I did. I set up a table in my dining area, which is the only spot in the house with decent sun exposure, that winter and every winter since.

A few years ago, I realized the poor thing was way too crowded and split what turned out to be multiple plants into three separate pots. All three plants thrived—the smallest lagged a bit but usually managed to catch up, producing multiple blooms by summer’s end. I added another table to the winter corner, and went on from there.

What once was

However, matters got bumpy over the last couple of years. The winter before last, I watched a line of sugar ants march in and head for the gerberas, which was how I learned that the plants were infested with aphids. I sprayed them, and that was that. Then last winter, same thing. I sprayed the heck out of them, then took them down to the basement to overwinter in solitary.  The largest plant seemed to do okay, but the middle one and the littlest one were struggling. When the weather warmed sufficiently, I set them out on the deck, but I could see they weren’t thriving. I lost the littlest one (afraid my overwatering played a role there), and decided major steps needed to be taken to save the other plants. That meant complete repotting with fresh soil.

That was a good move because damn the soil was in horrible shape, clay-pale and compacted. I I freed up the roots as much as possible, then replanted the main plant in one large pot. I found the middling plant was actually two separate plants, and gave each their own pot.

Happy to say that it helped a lot. Main plant sports one flower with several more on the way. Middling #1 had to be treated for aphids AGAIN, but it does look stronger and has formed at least one bud. Middling #2, the baby, needs to fill out a bit before it can flower. It needs time.

New plants and old

I will wind up this post with a photo of Main Pink with its new buddy, Mellow Yellow, which I bought when I feared I would lose all the Pinks.

I need to think about setting up a mini-greenhouse in the basement for overwintering purposes because my dining area just isn’t big enough.