Geranium Stuff
Okay, this is a question DH asked awhile ago, regarding what to do with geraniums over the winter, to try and keep them, so you can grow them again the next season.For those in cold climates, you can overwinter your geraniums and have them for the next year. This can be accomplished by digging the plants up and also with cuttings. Either way, you will need to get geraniums out before the first frost.
If you want to keep your geraniums in a pot for winter, dig them carefully out of the ground and prune back to about half the size. Put them in a cool area but in a sunny window or under artificial plant lights. Occasional pruning by pinching off will help them be full for next year.
To save cuttings, take geranium cuttings of about 4" from the ends of the shoots and dip in rooting hormone. Stick them upright in a peat moss mixed with sand so that they stand on their own. Water thoroughly and place plastic near bright light. When roots start in 8 weeks - plant them in pots. By May you should have some great geraniums to plant in your garden border
You can also save your geraniums by digging them up before the first frost and hanging upside down in a cool dry place over the winter. Soak the geranium roots once a month over the winter - the plants will look quite dead but have faith. In March, prune them back and plant in a pot in soil. The geraniums should be looking quite dandy by the time May planting rolls around.
Saving your geraniums over winter like this can seem like a lot of work, but if you are short on cash in your landscaping budget then this is a great way to get more flowers for nothing. Geraniums can be particularly expensive so it makes sense to put forth the effort to save them for the next year. Plus it can be a rewarding task!
Geraniums are good plants for cottage gardens, borders and containers. They will attract bees and butterflies but are also disease and deer resistant.
Well that's it for the geraniums, sounds like a lot huh. I never save them and it's such a shame, because they are so nice. I think basically you could just cut them down and water them minimally, they kind of just need a rest period over the winter. (This is a pic of one of mine right now.)
posted by Schell at 12:17 PM
5 Comments:
Funny you should post that... My grandfather has a beautiful that he has had for 10 years. He puts it in his garage every year and then pulls it out in the spring. It is the most beautiful one I have seen and huge.
Hey I am still around.. Just having a few rough spots is all and I will get on the ball and start blogging today. Have a great one!! If you get on and want to talk just buzz me I should be around. Later!
There's a house in Moncton with a sunporch, and they used to have it full of the most beautiful geraniums year round.
Wait a minute, maybe they were artificial!
So if I keep them in a pot, what exposure should they get? I have windows on all sides. Should I keep them in a window? Or away from the window?! Help me Michelle!
Brandy, we will definately chat today sometime, glad to hear from you. If I put the geraniums in my garage over winter they definately wouldn't make it. Nothing would survive. Ha.
DH, from what I can tell, they still need sun exposure, but to be somewhat dormant. My mom puts some plants in her basement windows. (Maybe, the coolest room you have with a window). I am going to have to try this this winter. Another thing I will probably try, is I will take the geranium out of the pot, rinse the roots with cool water, clean the pot and use new dirt, that way you shouldn't be bringing any bugs in from outside. Yep, definately gotta try it. Are you going anywhere the weekend? I'm just doing stuff around the house.
I just got back from Miramichi, where my parents and ex in-laws live. It was a lot of fun, with my mother telling me how much weight I appear to have gained since she saw me last, and my mother in law telling me how to raise the Boy.
%@#%$!!
Oooooohhhh, that bites.
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