by Leslie Cox; Monday; September 14, 2020

If you treated your houseplants to a summer spent outdoors, now is the time to start bringing them back indoors before temperatures dip too low…and before you are firing up the furnace or woodstove. The plants need a few days to adjust to the warmer nights indoors before the heat is turned on.

But, before you start hauling the potted plants back inside, be sure you check them over very carefully for any pest problems. If you do see any aphids, spider mites, scale or whatever, thoroughly treat your plant, or plants, accordingly.

And check each pot very carefully for any hitchhikers. One fall, I unintentionally brought in a tiny tree frog. For two nights, I really thought there was a frog with a wonderful baritone voice right outside the living room window. Turned out, it was inside on the windowsill.