overwintering geraniums Archives

FRIDAY FLOWERS: OVERWINTERING GERANIUMS

By Libby|2015-12-17T17:40:52-05:00December 17, 2015|8 McDowell, Friday Flowers, Garden|

One of the (many) treats of springtime is buying geraniums. Red, pink, white, multi-colored: they all herald the arrival of warm weather.
While this is still true for me I now also await spring when I can go into my garage and release my potted geraniums from their plastic coverings (aka garbage bags!)

So, let’s step back a bit. After all, it IS still winter time.

Last April I showed you how I had overwintered some geraniums in the post
“(It’s Almost) My Summer Garden”

Take a look at the post, then come back here and look at this pot. Unfortunately, I forgot to take some pictures mid-summer when this pot was absolutely overflowing with healthy, gorgeous geraniums. This was taken just two weeks ago: there are five plants in here.

IMG_9736_wm

This is what to do:
1. Separate your plants, gently (if you have more than one in a pot.)
2. Put a plant, or maybe two, in a smaller pot. They really don’t need much soil. The point is to let them dry out…totally and completely…and not let them freeze.
3. Cut them way back. I try to leave a small bit of green on each main stem, but it doesn’t seem to matter. I know, it kills me to cut them back […]

(IT’S ALMOST) MY SUMMER GARDEN

By Libby|2015-05-01T15:20:24-04:00April 28, 2015|Garden|

GERANIUMS

Everyone likes those wonderful red Geraniums, right?
I’ve tried all the colors and for a while was enamored of the pink; but no the red are, to me, the quintessential summer geranium!

And I, like so many others, would discard my plants at the end of the season after they had been taken down by the first frost. Well, sometimes I did overwinter them and brought them inside where they might flourish, or not. It was not a given that they would look anywhere near decent through the winter.

So last fall I decided to try what several people on Hometalk had suggested: overwintering my geraniums in the garage.

This is the end result:

IMG_7493_wm

Here they are, fresh from winter hibernation. I had put each pot in a white plastic garbage bag. I didn’t seal it: I left it fairly open at the top for air. I didn’t touch them all winter: no water, no food. Oh, and yes, I had cut them back hard when I put them “away.”

Geraniums #1_wm

About four weeks ago I brought them outside and put them directly in the sun and watered them. Then I left them for two weeks. I watched and waited. […]