Geranium Blog

Geranium Blog Set For Wild Gardening Frenzy

I'm completely manic with new geranium projects this spring:

• Set up fluorescent light for rooting and seed growing
• Super tough scented geraniums - I'm developing a list of scented geraniums that gardeners in desert cities can count on. Stay tuned for these sizzling recommendations.
• My little online store is now operational. Drop by Sunshine Hill Gardens for scented geranium seeds and cuttings. I've got canna rhizomes, too!
• Scented geranium leaf gallery - 'nuff said.
• In the name of better organization, some of the articles on Scented Geraniums will be moving to the Geranium Blog over the next few days.
• And how about an update on Gracie the Grackle?
• Plus more, more, MORE preying mantids, deformed vegetables, desert tortoise antics, new scented geraniums and lovely pictures.

Canna Seeds

I've decided to collect some canna seeds. The fertile pods become enlarged. When a pod is dry it is ready to pick. The seeds are dark round spheres. To grow them, notch the seeds with a file and soak them for 48 hours. Plant about 1/2" deep.

Seed Patrol

A few warm days and like magic, the seeds appear! This afternoon I harvested seeds from Pelargonium 'Cinnamon', P. ionidiflorum (Celery), Coconut, Apple and a couple of zonals.

A Slice of Apple Geranium

Apple Geranium is now covered with tiny white flowers and a tangle of seedheads. This morning I began collecting the little cranesbills to dry for seed. I just cut off the ones that are starting to dry and put them in a pie pan. The seeds of P. odoratissimum have a little fluffy springtail and will fly away in any wind, so it's best to get them off the plant before they "spring".

I also collected some seeds from P. x fragrans 'Nutmeg' and P. x fragrans 'Snowy Nutmeg'.

Seed Report

Pelargonium x fragrans (Nutmeg) with flowers and seedheads

As you can see, Nutmeg Geranium is covered with flowers and seed heads. The same goes for P. odoratissimum (Apple). P. grossularioides (Coconut) - always a vigorous seed producer - is just getting started.

There are two small-scale seed producers so far this year: P. 'Strawberry' has three cranesbills forming. Also, P. x fragrans 'Snowy Nutmeg' has produced a few seedheads. Will the seedlings be variegated like the parent?

And then, a zonal geranium called 'Patriot Salmon Chic' has nine seedheads so far, but who knows if they will reproduce true. And besides that, the tag says "Do not propagate".

Coconut Geranium Seedlings

What do you look for if you're trying to grow Coconut geraniums from seed? It takes 10 to 14 days for the seeds to germinate. The lower seedling in the picture is how they look when they first come up: approximately 1/3 of an inch from leaftip to leaftip. The next leaves will be round and scalloped.

I read something interesting the other day. It turns out that growing from seed is the preferred method of propagating P. elongatum (Upright Coconut), P. odoratissimum (Apple) and P. grossularioides (Coconut). All three of these varieties are pretty easy to collect seeds from, but not so easy to take a cutting. So here comes my next experiment...

Starting Coconut Geranium From Seed

The seeds of Pelargonium grossularioides are tiny. The easiest way to grow them is to sprinkle them on the surface of your pre-moistened growing medium. Mist the surface to bring the seeds into full contact with the soil. Place your seed tray (or pot or margarine bowl) into the magical high-tech greenhouse known as a ziploc bag. No more watering while you wait for your seeds to "hatch".

Coconut geranium seeds are the small dark dots.

Before planting, I soaked my seed tray in water
until the Jiffy Mix was totally wetted.

After sprinkling the seeds, I sprayed the surface with water to make
sure the seeds are in good contact with the surface.

A ziploc bag makes an effective and inexpensive greenhouse.

Seed Starting for Pelargoniums

Pelargonium grossularioides seeds (L) and P. elongatum seeds (R)

I ran across an interesting article - Raising Pelargoniums from Seed by the Sprouting method. It reminded me of Jeanne's seed starting method that she describes in her blog Uncle Tom's Garden.

I have seeds aplenty of Pelargonium grossularioides (Coconut) and they start easily. You could almost call them invasive! But I was nervous about how to grow the P. elongatum (Upright Coconut) seeds because I have far fewer for experimentation. So the damp paper towel method it will be!

Seed Patrol Update

Pelargonium 'Sandalwood' with flowers and seedheads

While deadheading this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find a few seedheads on P. 'Sandalwood'. This is not a species pelargonium, as far as I know, so it will be interesting to see what develops. Sandalwood is a woodsy scented geranium.

In other seed news, I learned that Upright Coconut Geranium is a species pelargonium: P. elongatum.

Seed Patrol

Pelargonium odoratissimum (apple) with flowers and seedheads

Both Apple and Celery Geranium are now producing seedheads. I have managed to collect a little seed already from Apple, but none yet from Celery. They are both species pelargoniums so the seed should be viable. Rooting cuttings are the faster, easier method of getting new plants, of course, but this is a quest for knowledge and experience!

Pelargonium ionidiflorum (celery) with flowers and seedheads

Seeds of Upright Coconut Geranium

Seeds of Pelargonium 'Upright Coconut'

Upright Coconut Geranium has simply enormous seeds! The seedheads are about 5 times bigger than those of regular Coconut geranium, seen here. I don't know if these seeds will reproduce true, but curiosity demands that I find out! Below is a picture of how they hang on the plant. They look sort of comical, so big on a still small plant!

P. 'Upright Coconut' with seedheads

Coconut Geranium Seeds

Seeds spring forth from Coconut Geranium seedheads

Pelargonium grossularioides is one of the scented geraniums that can be grown from seed and still remain true. And what a seed producer it is! The seeds are easy to collect. I just snip off the seedhead clusters after they pop open and drop them in a pie pan to let them dry further. After several days shake the seeds into a clean dry container for storage. And keep them away from any breezes. They have little fuzzy parachutes (apparently invisible to the scanner) that easily carry them hither and yon.