Geraniums Over Winter

[Doug Kanter]

Perhaps I assumed too much about you.

[Lee Smith]

Right. Never assume pe> It's highly unlikely it would not survive outside, but given the lack of

[Doug Kanter]

Which part of the advice do you disagree with?

[Lee Smith]

The part where you tell Marilyn it's highly unlikely geraniums would not survive outside in a PA winter, of course. (the part you keep snipping)

[Doug Kanter]

If you'd like to get picky, we can do that. I'm referring to the typical geraniums which are sold everywhere in the spring, already flowering. I have gardened for 20 years in Rochester NY (zone 5 or 6, depending on luck, technique, and microclimates). On one side of my house, I've dug up cannas in the fall, missed one or two, and found that they'd survived horrendous winters. Right next to them, geraniums have died, and this was with a 6" layer of mulch.

For 10 years before that, I gardened in Long Island, which is more like her climate. About half the geraniums made it through the winter.

So, if she has a plant she loves, would you recommend she take a chance and leave it outside? You might want to consult this before continuing:

's "interestingly close" to a colder zone. In a weird winter, that could spell trouble.

[Ann]

"Lee Smith" expounded:

Geraniums survive outside just fine in my zone 6a garden. But I don't think you're talking about geraniums.

[sockiescat]

On occasion, I have just let the geraniums sit there until they stop

flowering (I cut back watering them but protect them from freezing). Then I take them out of the pot, shake off the dirt, and hang them u to dry in the basement. In the spring I just plant them in new growing medium and water them and they come back. Or I cut them up and make a few more. I don't do this every year, but it has worked whenever I've done it.

what i have done a lot of times is just dig the plants up leave th dirt on and put them in a boxes or dig them up put them in pots an then just stick them down in the cool basement. i do not water them but just leave them sitting in the box or pots. come about february sometime i bring them up out of the basement an cut them right off to about a 1/2 inch in length, then i put them in bright sunny window, start to water them and by may 24 weekend they ar ready to be planted outside. u can also wait for the geranium to grow some so that u can do extr cuttings. how i do mine is i get a really good potting soil mix, tak some rooting compound and start my plants right in the soil. hope this helps some. sockiescat

-- sockiescat

[Sue Burnham]

Ann, you are so right.....

I have perennial geraniums too, right here in z5a, and they do right nicely, all 6+ cultivars. Some of them even threaten to become "lawn weeds".

It was of course " assumed" that the OP was speaking of Pelargoniums. "Assume" on usenet and generally one gets called out briskly.

Thanks for being gentle.

Sue Western Maine

[Doug Kanter]

Of course it was assumed. She didn't specify otherwise, which made it fairly safe to assume she meant pelargoniums, which is what's in every discount store, garden center and supermarket in the country in spring. If she knew enough to WANT one of the many other geraniums, she'd probably also own some books, and she wouldn't have asked the question to begin with.

[Ann]

"Doug Kanter" expounded:

The problem, Doug, is that you implied these plants ( Pelargoniums) could be hardy outdoors in Pennsylvania - which is ridiculous unless you've got them protected somehow by a very warm microclimate. They'll turn to mush at the first frost. Geraniums, on the other hand, are perfectly hardy.

[Doug Kanter]

If you read *all* the messages from me, you will see that I clearly told her not to risk it with the plants, unless she was prepared for sad results. When I asked her about her location, it was because some zone maps indicate reality: A plume of nastiness which exists through central NY and Pennsylvania, although not all the way to PA's southernmost border. If that's where she lives, she might get lucky with her plants 9 out of 10 years. But in an odd year, uh oh.....

[Ann]

"Doug Kanter" expounded:

I have the whole thread, with all of it's chills and thrills, right here, read every message - and your advice was poorly worded at best. I think 'Lee Smith' was having some subtle fun with the discrepancy.

[Doug Kanter]

Oh well. Gardening is 75% intuition, 15% wishful thinking/dreaming (like fishing), and 10% science. It's good the OP left with a feeling of "Huh?"

[Marilyn]

Incredible thread on what I thought was a simple question. :) BTW The geraniums were purchased from a library fund raising organization, been buying a few every year for several years. Never tried to save any before, just left them and pulled them up in the Spring. They were dried out, and did appear to have any life. That said, they were on a porch with a roof over so if I didn't water them, they dried out. We moved (about 3 miles) this summer and I brought the potted plants with me. No longer under roof, and now got to thinking about being a more proactive gardener at the new house. Possibly saving 2005 geraniums and adding some in 2006 in a different color when the library has its fund-raising sale. All 6 plants are now in the house and I'm trying to decide which approach suggested, ie cutting back now or not, etc. to do. Meanwhile, I have a new problem of sorts: all of a sudden we have what looks like 100s of very tiny bugs on the window sill in the morning. It's not too hard to get rid of them, but the next morning there seems to be a new bunch -- not quite as many a the day before. They sometimes fly but mostly just crawl around and initially I used a bug spray on the sill but have found just a damp paper towel works almost as well. Thanks again.

[Doug Kanter]

2005 geraniums??? That a lot. Marilyn.....where are you going to put them all? :-)

[Marilyn]

[Doug Kanter]

Yeah...I understood. I'm just keeping you on your toes. However, I did plant

300 impatiens one year. I expected a higher failure rate from the seeds. It didn't happen, and I didn't have the heart to get rid of any. I planted every one of them outdoors.

[doctoroe]

I just take my geraniums (pelargoniums) into the unheated garage for the winter and leave them near a window. They look dead by March but I pop them back outside and water them and they do just fine. I've got some that have lasted eight years this way in our Zone 7 winters.

[Sue Burnham]

If its any help to you Marilyn, or Doug, the pelargoniums that I cut back when this thread started have ALL sprouted new growth. The biggest surprise of all was in a pot that I was ready to toss on the compost heap. I had beheaded all the plants ( a mixed planting) weeks ago, left the pot in the sunporch until I was ready to "fall clean". When I picked it up for the trip out the door, I found a Martha Washington pelargonium quite happily growing herself out again, also. Needless to say, she is not going to the compost heap.

OTOH, Sister, who saved the "Glitter" pelargoniums for me a couple years ago, rooted her cuttings in August and has blooming size plants for Thanksgiving.

Sue Western Maine