I haven't gotten any sprouts from mine yet. I think I may have done a poor job with the jugs. I have not had great germination on my perennials at all.

Kelly

I sowed Geranium sanguineum 'Vision' last year, and had only a couple sprouts, which were late. I held onto the jugs, and just potted up 6 nice ones.

Vera, this is my 3rd year wsing 'Husker's Red'. No need to up-pot. HOS them and they do wonderfully!!

Cheryl ::]

Thanks. I thought I did something wrong, but it looks like the geranium germination rate may just be naturally low!

Cheryl...I did put the rest out in the garden as HOS this morning after I potted the the others up....I had just way too many and not enough space!! These are my give-aways :D
I would have preferred to plant out singles rather that HOS but there were like 100's of seedlings so closely spaced it would have been near to impossible :O

Vera

I did only 'Reflections' this year and got very good germ. Last year was pathetic, and I think I tossed the few that did germ. Not worth planting out.

Vera, my geraniums Midnight Reiter and Blue Boy sown in February are just about at 100%...but many of the Midnight Reiter are purple tinged green and not dense purple/black. That's normal, just about 25% of them seem to come true for me, I discard the others.

So I guess the answer is lots and lots of water (rain, and mine were in seed pots topped only with grit and no covers) and mild temperatures. They were exposed to frost, no solid freezes but since I garden only here I couldn't tell you if that's the difference :).

I think it does have low germination. I sowed some a few years ago and only ended up with one sprout. However that one sprout has grown nice and big. The really good news is that it has plenty of babies every year on its own so my one sprout has multiplied several times over.

Well that sounds good too nurmey and thanks for that info Morz :D

Hey Nurmey....are you guys flooding again over there? They were talking like 5" of rain was expected today. Wasn't long ago you all were flooding then too....good grief!!
Let me know if you need a canoe :D

Vera

I have been WS hardy geraniums for several years now and have been successful at most of them. The only one that gave me trouble was kishvarience /spelling/, germinated ok but could not overwinter- hardiness is in question. Psilostemon has been slightly iffy to overwinter too but few spots did survived and doing fine in their third year. Anyway I presoak all my seeds/ or almost all - those tiny ones are hard to disperse after they wet/. Hardy geranium seed needs about 3-4 weeks of cool- not cold temps so late fall or early spring are perfect. Sometimes germination is irregular and you need to prick your seedlings as they appear and keep your pots for while. My best seed sources were Chilterns, Secret seeds all from UK.
Vera if you want extra seeds for next season I will have psylostemon, pyrenaicum white and pink, thungbergii pink, ruprechtii,
wlassovianum, phaeum lily lowell - all grown from seed.
Presently only pyrenaicum and lily lowell are blooming so have to wait to collect seeds.

I don't remember what variety of hardy geranium I planted but it's a small blue flower. Mine took a very long time to germinate but the rate was very high when they finally sprouted. They were one of my last seeds to come up. I'd almost written them off. They are still pretty small and only have a few pair of true leaves.
Karyn

I'm sure the mighty MO and the Papio are out of their banks again. Luckily I live on a hill and not next to a river or creek so I don't need a canoe yet. I just let my dog outside and and realized that one of the big pots I planted the other day is flooded. I'm going to have to brave the rain and get out there with my drill to make drain holes in it or my begonias will be goners.

The Western side of the state is still in a drought and here we are under flood warnings! Hubby and I are driving to KC tomorrow for a big party so keep your fingers crossed they don't close the interstate again.

Hi Vera,
I got great and fairly early germination on G. pyrenaicum 'Album' and G. bohemicum 'Orchid Blue'. My G. yoshinoi that I planted last year self sowed like a weed. I did not get any 'Jester's Jacket' to germinate.
Remy

I sowed pratense that I bought from Pine Tree on February 24th. Not a single sprout so far and I am so disappointed. I love hardy geraniums and have three different varieties growing from plants I bought. I was thinking of dumping the jugs but this thread is making me think I should wait a little longer.
Bonny

Last fall I gathered a few seeds from a couple of different geraniums (maybe 10 seeds altogether)from school and where I worked. I have 4 nice looking seedlings as a result. I planted them all in the same milk jug, so I'm not sure yet what I've ended up with.

Vera,
Guess what? A seed from 'Jester's Jacket' finally sprouted!! I happen to notice it this evening in my pot ghetto. There it was, a tiny baby variegated geranium : ) I guess some varieties just take longer.
Remy

I never thought of sowing geranium seeds. So tell me, how true from seed are they? Does anyone have any photos of their winter sown hardy geraniums?

:-) pm2

I have to work on my pictures and posting them but all species do come true very nicely, some of named hybrids.
Look at the Chiltern seed and Secret seeds from UK list offerings to know what is out there.

I didn't sow any hardy Geranium, but my G. sanguinium lancastriense and 'New Hampshire' Purple self sow quite nicely. This year they popped up in several spots in my garden. They are in bloom right now. All very pretty.

BTW, my Rozanne opened up today! Everything blooms early this year.

Here are Visions and Brookside geraniums WS'd 2 years ago, Brookside is putting on an especially nice flower show this year, but I like the compact form of the visions plant.

{{gwi:387037}}
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so pretty, vjhale - Carrie

Ditto Carrie. Vjhale those are nice!

I winter sowed Pratense this year. Wasn't planning on it but got it as a surprise in a trade and sometimes it just happens. When I googled it, I realized I wanted this one, but there's been nothing yet.

Lots of reseeders in the gardens though. Go figure! :O)

Very pretty. Brookside looks just like Rozanne. Does it bloom earlier than Rozanne and longer? One of my Rozanne just started to bloom two days ago.
Vision looks just like my New Hampshire Purple.

My WS'd Rozanne died shortly after transplanting last year, I never saw it bloom. The Brookside has been going strong for several weeks, but we've had 80 degree heat off and on for 2 weeks already - way earlier than normal. I think they like it, my biokovo has bloomed heavier than I've ever seen it before.

The only one not doing anything is the Midnight Reiter, which is much smaller than the Visions and Brookside grown at the same time. Does anyone know if they bloom later or take longer to get to bloom stage?

I admit to being hooked on these little gems and WS'd 7 others last winter, 6 have germinated, just waiting on the g. striatum.

I believe it starts with pyrenaicum for me and phaeum, then sanguineum, Nimbus and pratense. Next is Blue Cloud. Midnight Reiter is blooming right now for me, started about a week ago. Brookside usually starts in couple of weeks for me and is midsummer bloom. It will get togheter with psylostemon. Later on I will get wlassovianum and thungbergii which will go into the fall. Those hardy geraniums are invaluable for my shade gardens.