I don't see why not. My DM was bored one day in February a couple of years ago and took some seeds of Pelargoniums and spread them out into a planter by her door. Next summer she had little plants come up and they even flowered. :O) They were a beautful orange colour.

Yes! I WSed them last year and this year - two kinds this past year. I had good germination and they did well.

The only "problem", if you can call it that, is that they did seem to grow somewhat slowly, and I felt that they were just getting going when the cold weather hit. Admittedly, they were pretty much ignored by me for most of the season, so maybe if I had potted them up in bigger pots and watered more, etc., they would have grown more quickly ands bloomed more profusely.

However, I did bring them in the house this week to try to overwinter them. On a related note, I have had luck overwintering geraniums by hanging them upside down in the rafters of the basement. Then last year, I tried a new method I read about, where you dig them up, wash off the roots and put them in a cardboard box. Sounded a heck of a lot more logical than hanging them from the rafters, lol. Well, I lost all of them. See taht? If it ain't broke.... Anyway, this year I'm playing it safe (hopefully) and just bringing the pots in and putting them in a sunny window for the winter.

Sorry to have rambled. But yes, do WS geraniums! You'll be glad you did! LOL.

:)
Dee

Dee, Would you expand on hanging them upside down from the rafters? Whole plants? Tubers?

Thanks!

Seedmama, I had always heard what I thought was an old wives' tale that you could hang the geraniums from the rafters. I did a bit of looking into it, and decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised when it worked, lol!

What you do is bring in the geraniums before the frost hits them. (To me, the hardest part is deciding when to bring them in!) Unpot them, and clean off the roots. I think I may have washed them off, and then let them dry a day or two. Trim back the foliage to a couple of inches, and then hang them upside down from the ceiling!

I was lucky that in my basement I have these metal pieces crisscrossing between the joists (I think it was originally some kind of bracing, although half of them are no longer attached and they are just hanging there) so I had plenty of options to hang them. I suppose you could tack up a few nails to hang them from too.

Then in spring, you take them down, pot them up, water, and put outside, and theoretically, they start growing again.

The method I tried last year involved unpotting them, cleaning off the roots, and storing in cardboard boxes, but I lost every single one of them. So this year, I'm just overwintering inside in pots in the window, but if I ever overwinter larger plants again, I'll hang them from the rafters again.

:)
Dee

Thanks a lot. I have some outside for trial of survival. (we don't have snow so they might survive next to house wall).

plants from some small cutting will come inside soon and i will wintersow the new seeds i have bought. hope to have lots of geraniums next summer :)

shall i sow the geraniums now or wait? what is best time to wintersow geranium(Pelargonium)?

I going to start mine very soon, but I start mine inside in the south facing window.
Otherwise, for the short season here, I would not get flowers till the fall

Absolutely - I did all of mine (but waited until closer to February) and overwintered them in my garage.

Here's a picture: It's amazing how little I spent to get color on my porch!

{{gwi:446500}}

Carrie

Hi Daisy,
can,t offer you any advice as i have never grown them seed,
but i wanted to say Hi to another brit,thought i was the only one here.

Its good to hear they can overwinter in the garage. Do you think they would make it still potted up? I have a friend who puts hers in the basement every year and waters once. She has a four year old Geranium, the stem is huge.

I don't have a basement, so the garage is my only option. I didn't realize the annual form could be WS so soon. Good to know. I will be sure and put mine out.

Well, the reason why I do mine in February (actually closer to end Feb) is because there are many days that it is warm here in NC in February. If your winters are really cold, maybe waiting a bit until spring might be a better idea.

I pot my geraniums up right before our frost (in November) and keep them in the garage all winter and take them out when there is little chance of frost.

Carrie

Carrie, Your porch is lovely!

love your porch And your yard,very pretty.
Carol

Beautiful porch! How inviting! Oh I wish I had a front porch!

I sowed my geraniums last year on April 11th.

:)
Dee

Thanks, guys (blush...blush) That's my favorite, most comfortable green rocker that I sit on to wave to any "passerbys"... :o)

Dee - I really think that April is way better to sow geraniums than when it is cold. They don't take long to come up - they need warmth - and then there is no chance of losing them to frost - which Pelargoniums are prone to..)

I will probably do more in April... they are so much fun and so CHEAP to do (Again, those seeds were bought in Walmart - ten cents!)

Carrie

Hmm, Carrie, maybe I should look in Walmart more often! My geranium seeds were a bit expensive. I don't remember off the top of my head how much, but I did get them from T&M, who lean toward the pricey side to begin with, and I think the packet had only ten seeds, so I was really hoping for success! Which, luckily, I did have. I think I got 100% germination from them.

Wow, I was going to write that I am not sowing them this year, but I just went and checked my seed stash and found a whole new packet! I think I must have gotten it at an end-of-season seed sale last summer, because I didn't buy any this fall or winter. Yay! What a nice surprise!

:)
Dee

You have to get there early - at least here, anyway - the seeds fly off the rack.

I am thinking, however, that possibly those geranium seeds were more than ten cents - I don't remember, I just remember that they were WAY cheaper than anywhere else and they germinated great.

Carrie

Yeah I think the Geranium seed was 1.75 for Burpee for me here.
I used to overwinter my geraniums, but I didn't last year, so I am starting over this year.
they really are easy to start from seed, and so cute as babies.
Was wondering how long your growing season is Carrie. If I start mine inside now, I get flowering like yours in July.
I fear Wsing them it would just be too late for flowering, we get a killing frost the 3rd week of September usually. I couldn't plant out annuals last year till the 1st week of June.

Most of the geraniums on the porch are second year,,,(overwintered ws plants)... My growing season for wsing annuals is around March to November 15th... In other words, I can start tenders around March (keeping an eye on frosts) and it will be warm until around November 15th.. Hope that answers your question.

I do remember that geraniums took a longer time to bloom than other annuals, but so worth the wait. Just be careful they don't get frost if they germinate in the "winter" because you can easily lose them - they are tender.

Carrie

thanks you all,
i will start those seeds in april then. i don't have much space inside the house to start seeds and window is west facing.

carrie,
you porch is so nice.

Hi traceym,
me too glad to know someone from UK in the forum. Do you wintersow? this is my first year of wintersowing. Till now i have sowed petunia and poppy. Which US zone's timeline should i follow?

I knew I wanted to retire in Zone 7b!
Wow long growing season, as I know it he he

we actually didn't "retire" here...and are still not retired... but former New Yorkers who moved here in '93 just because we got tired of all the snow...

Now, today WE have snow and New York doesn't - can't win..
lol

:0/

Carrie

I don't WS my geraniums due to the fact out last frost date is tax day, so instead worrying about low temps at night I start mine indoors. I have 75 plants started from Park seed. 8 different colors 10 seeds each for $20

Here is a link that might be useful: gardening by the seat of my pants

Koehler's

wow! your germination room is so impressive. I just have an east facing window :(

belleville, when do you sow your seed?
they look great for this time of year!
I have the same stand, lol.

I sowed these the weekend of Thanksgiving. Some people may say to soon but I disagree. I go to Lowes or a nursery @ springtime they have geraniums and other annuals in 4" pots and baskets wanting way to much money. So I decided why not me.I would start early and have larger plants.
In fact I could sell all75 plants for say $3 a piece to pay for materials and time but............ this is my hobby

Here is a link that might be useful: gardening by the seat of my pants

Hi everyone,
I have given up on standard geraniums because we get "bud worms" here in Kansas and they eat the buds from the inside out in June. But I do WS ivy geraniums. Bud worms don't attack those. They come up slowly and grow slowly only blooming in the second year. However, at $4-$5 each for ivy geraniums in 4" pots makes me willing to wait on my Winter Sown ones.
Tina or trowelgal