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advice re: geraniums

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  • @canalsideconnie hi, you have nothing to loose so. Have a go and pot them up. They may start to sprout small green leaves, you can then cut them off and pot up separately. Valerie 
  • Balgay.HillBalgay.Hill Posts: 1,089
    @canalsideconnie
    The problem is that Pelargoniums get labeled as Geraniums in garden centres, but they are different plants. Most Pelargoniums wont survive a winter, so you need to take cuttings for next year. Most true Geraniums will survive a winter in the ground without any problems.
    Sunny Dundee
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Indeed @Balgay.Hill, and that's why a photo might help to determine what the plants are, although if they were blue for example, they're most likely not pelargoniums. Even if we knew what colour the flowers had been, that would help.  :)
    You also can't pot up 'leaves' from hardy geraniums, and expect them to grow. That's quite misleading. They'd need some root attached to be viable.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698

    In order to clear up the confusion between geraniums and pelargoniums......here is a pelargonium in all its glory. This particular one has spent a couple of winters outside but has been near the house which seems to have protected it a bit from the frost and snow. It is now a very sorry sight and I do not expect it to recover though it has just produced one single red flower. Most pelargoniums won't withstand the cold of winter and usually turn to mush before spring returns though I have managed to overwinter a "Royal Oak" in the greenhouse for the past few years. It'll die now I've written that, won't it?
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Yes - just the protection from frost, or excessive wet, is all they need @Ceres, although a greenhouse isn't always enough in colder areas. Quite a few people in the south have reported being able to overwinter some of them outside though.  :)
    My Mum just used to keep hers in the porch or on the kitchen windowsills. Mind you - the porch had the boiler in it  then, so they flowered all the time!
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    I bet the pelargoniums were very happy about the boiler. Lucky plants to have year round warmth.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Sorry - I just meant over winter @Ceres!
    They may not have enjoyed the asbestos pipes though  ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    Ah, asbestos. The miracle substance that turned out to be somewhat less than wonderful.
  • Today I looked and my pelargoniums / I call them geraniums, looking a bit straggly but are still in flower, south west coast. It’s an unbelievably difficult year to be able to predict what it’s going to be like this spring. Valerie 
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