Geranium Blog

Not Dead Yet

This Dr. Livingstone geranium died from
the cold - except for this sprout.

I was convinced this Pelargonium 'Dr. Livingstone' (lemon-rose scented) was a complete loss. We had a cold snap in late December during which temperatures fell to 22 degrees F. So I knew this was dead. When I put my hand around the trunk to yank it out of the pot, I spotted the little green sprout at the base! So I decided to cut away the dead part and let the plant grow back from the new growth. The lesson here is "Look before you pull."

My cold weather emergency plan worked well. All the "movable"-sized pots were brought into the kitchen. During the fall, I made sure that I had new extra plants of the varieties that were in "non-movable"-sized pots. So even though the plants in the largest pots couldn't be saved, I haven't lost any varieties from my collection.

More Pelargonium/Cold Weather Observations:

More Sensitive to Cold: P. 'Ginger', P. 'Lime', P. 'Variegated Prince Rupert', P. 'Dr. Livingstone', P. elongatum - Showed signs of distress from the cold sooner than the others.

Less Sensitive to Cold: P. grossularioides stayed outside throughout the cold snap and although suffering some cold damage, has recovered nicely.

The Pelargonium in Winter

I've heard from a couple of people who wondered how to keep their geraniums over the winter. Unfortunately, I am blissfully ignorant of such matters. I overwinter my geraniums outside. Fortunately, I found a great article on the subject from the University of Illinois Extension:

Tips offered for keeping geraniums through the winter

"It is foolish to try to save diseased plants, but healthy and vigorous plants do have a good chance of surviving the winter with some care," says David Robson, University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.

It turns out, the choices for overwintering pelargoniums in cold climates are three:

• Bring them indoors as potted plants
• Start cuttings indoors
• Make them go dormant

Read the article for the details.