Yep, they're ivy-leaved geraniums (or just called ivy geraniums).

I've grown them in containers in the past, and they're as easy as any annual geranium. Like all annual geraniums, they do best when dead-headed to keep the blooms coming. They take part-shade well, too.

I've always purchased 4" pots in the spring, some of the local nurseries carry them. You can also start from seed, the "Summer Showers" is the series you'll likely find for sale.

th much. have you tried overwintering them in an inside sunny window?
best,
mindy

Hmm, Mindy, you don't happen to have a photo of these particular ones, do you? My first thought was ivy geraniums, but I don't recall ever seeing a maroon blotch on them. I always think of them as shiny green all throughout.

I grew some from seed last year. Poor things are still in a milk jug. I will be potting them up and bringing them inside for the winter - if I ever get going and get them out of the garage before they freeze.

Are Martha Washington geraniums the same thing?

:)
Dee

Mindy, I 've given you a link to a list of some of the Ivy geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum) of one of the growers up my way. I don't know if she's still selling them but this should give you an idea of some of the varieties. As you can see by the descriptions the flowers come in many colors with variegated, plain, netted or zonal patterns on their leaves, they also come in miniature sizes.

Dee, Martha Washington geraniums are different.

I haven't grown Ivys for many years but what I liked about them is I could grow them in partial shade and they did very well for me.

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Ivy Leaf Geraniums

No, I haven't overwintered them. I haven't grown them in a long time. I store annual geraniums dormant over winter (the old paper bag in the cellar trick), but I'm not sure ivy geraniums would overwinter the same way. They might, and it's worth trying, though.

To be honest, I totally forgot about these annuals - why, I don't know, I did like them. I'm going to make a note to try to work some in next season :0)

hi mxk, what do you mean 'the old paper bag trick? you don't mean storing the bare tubers in a paper bag do you? for geraniums??? i misunderstood you, right?
best,
mindy

Mindy - annual geraniums (annual for us, that is) don't make tubers, they have thick, fleshy roots.

What I do is dig them after they've been frosted lightly a couple times (they're usually still green), shake off whatever loose soil shakes off easily, and throw them in big paper bags (I usually use lawn bags, but brown grocery bags work fine, too). I fold the top of the bag over, and take them into the crawl space, put against the coldest wall. I don't cut anything back at this point, just throw the plants in the bags - roots, top growth, clingy soil, all of it.

Come early March or so, I take them out of storage, trim the top growth back to about 2" or so (depending), pot up using fresh potting soil, water, place on the light cart. They sprout pretty fast, and often growth will have started while still in storage.

When they start to fill out a bit, I start fertlizing, and I take them out on the patio during the day to get the sunlight they need, bring them in at night. Plant out at planting time, sometime in May.

I've been doing this for years, and it works beautifully - my geraniums are getting HUGE, they just get bigger and better every year :0)

DH laughed at me one year when he saw me potting them up - he called them the "mummy plants". He thought no way would they grow. So now when we happen to discuss geraniums we refer to them as the mummy plants LOL!

My sister told me my grandmother used to hang hers upside down in the cellar, but I've not tried that - don't have a root cellar, and don't really want plants hanging from the rafters downstairs in the laundry room...

wow, ,that's fantastic! if i had only known this years ago, i would have saved myself sooo much trouble!! thank you much
mindy

I used to hang my annual geraniums from the basement ceiling to overwinter. Like mxk, I would dig them up, shake off the soil, and tie them to a nail on the basement ceiling. I'd repot in the spring and be good to go.

I haven't done it in awhile because I just don't have time to do that work for something I can get so cheaply in the spring.

I did try to overwinter them in a box once. Saw in a gardening magazine to dig up, shake off soil, and store upside down in a cardboard box. Didn't work for me!

Annette, thanks to your link, I think I found out that I actually have a Martha Washington geranium, lol! I have to take a closer look (that's the one still out in the garage) but I think the foliage looks like a photo of a MW. Great link, by the way.

:)
Dee

Dee - see, the thing is, the geraniums get bigger and bigger every year if you overwinter them. There is no way I could get geraniums the size I have them inexpensively. So, the work is worth it for me (and really, I don't think it's *that* much work, though I only have 10, maybe 12 geraniums).

Mxk, my geraniums never really got all that much bigger..??? Maybe I trimmed them back too much??? Hmm, I may have to try this again!

I just am so busy in the fall. The leaf clean-up alone keeps me going well into December (about 40 oak trees) and I never get all the chores done. Digging up the geraniums was just one thing that didn't seem that pressing to me, considering one can buy them cheaply in the spring.

But again, maybe I will try again (next year) to see if I can get the plants bigger each year. I think the instructions I had were to cut them back before hanging, and maybe that's why mine never got bigger with each year. If I do it again I will not cut them back and see how they do.

Thanks!
:)
Dee