I planted columbine seeds ("Mckana's Giants" variety) this year during spring. It took a long time for the seedlings to sprout and even longer to develop leaves, so even during August they were still quite small and fit in 4" pots. Then came a drought, and I didn't keep up with the watering, so my poor columbine seedlings suffered. They lost their leaves. I began to worry and began taking a lot of care to revive them, and they did continue growing, but slowly. It wasn't until recently--October, when the weather turned really cold--that they put out new flushes of leaves. Bad time to grow, but I can't blame 'em. I took them indoors along with annuals to escape frost and snow. I know columbines are perennials, meant to stay outdoors all year and get dormant during the winter...but all those young new leaves! Is it a good idea to take them indoors and let them grow during winter? I've some good spots available. But is it harmful to their healths to skip dormancy?
well since their small seedlings, if you let them outside the winter would kill them because they are not fully grown plants. so yes it is a good idea to keep them inside as houseplants for the winter, then plant them outside next spring
Greenleaf--since the little guys are in pots, and now inside, it's probably best to keep them protected over the winter. Stuff in pots is more sensitive to cold that if they're in the ground, and it's too late to try to plant them in the ground now. It would be best to keep the little guys very cool, they might need that to get them to flower next spring. Just frost free would be my preference, like in a cool greenhouse. Assuming you're growing them on a window or under lights indoors, it will be a bit tough to keep the plants compact, but keep them as cool and bright as possible. Once you plant them out next spring, you'll probably find they self seed each year, and you'll have all the little plants you need with little or no work. The older plants may be short lived, but we always have too many crowding out the columbine area, with new babies always coming along to replace any that disappear...
