Gardening: Bring geraniums indoors to overwinter (2024)

The zonal geraniums (Pelargonium x hortorum) we grow as houseplants and tender bedding plants are complex hybrids of species native to South Africa. I was shocked when I first saw them in Tanzania, East Africa, in the early 1960s. They were grown as woody hedges of about the same height and width as caragana.

To overwinter geraniums, bring them indoors prior to frost. If you are growing them in a tub or container and time is at a premium (as it usually is in fall), simply drag the entire pot indoors where they should keep for a few weeks while you tend to other more pressing garden chores. If grown in beds, dig them up with a bit of soil, put them in a pot, water moderately and they too will be fine for a few weeks until you can deal with them.

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My strategy is to not put all of my eggs in one basket, so I attempt to overwinter them both on their original roots in pots and by taking cuttings. Cuttings root best if taken from “juvenile” young growth — removed from a vigorously growing tip that is nearest the outer canopy of the plant.

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The cuttings should be about 3-4 inches long. Make the bottom cut just below a “node” or where the leaves are attached. Remove the bottom few leaves, the scales (tiny leaf-like flaps) on the stem, and flowers or flower buds. Leave at least two leaves on the top. Using rooting hormone has had mixed reviews and is not considered necessary. “Bulb pans,” about 3 inches deep by 7 inches wide, work well as containers and can hold about six cuttings.

Using your finger, a thick pen or a dibble, make holes in a potting mixture of 50 per cent peat and 50 per cent sharp sand. Stick in the cuttings and gently press the soil against them with your fingers. Water them moderately — soggy soil promotes disease and rot. Place the pots in a warm place with indirect light. A heating mat works very well.

New top growth develops once roots have formed. Depending on the variety, light and warmth, rooting takes one to four weeks. If you place them in a south window with direct sunlight, you may want to loosely enclose the pots in a clear plastic bag to prevent them from drying out. If the leaves turn yellow, it is generally from over-watering or too cool a temperature.

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Once you have taken cuttings from the plants in their original containers or those you have taken in from your outdoor beds, they will be cut down considerably. Remove dead branches, yellow or brown leaves, and flowers and flower buds. Place them in full light in a warm place and water moderately. Depending on your needs and those of your friends, you may want to take another set of cuttings in late winter or early spring.

While indoors they’ll need at least four hours of direct sunlight at normal room temperature to flourish and flower. Water them moderately while they are actively growing, ensuring that the potting mix is wet throughout but never soggy. Allow the top half-inch of the soil to dry out between waterings. Use a dilute 20-20-20 soluble fertilizer every three to four weeks when there are signs of growth.

I have overwintered ‘Shone Helena’, a lovely salmon pink geranium, in my sunroom for many years and it flowers through much of the winter.

Sara Williams is the author and coauthor of many books including Gardening Naturally with Hugh Skinner, the revised and expanded Creating the Prairie Xeriscape, and with Bob Bors, the recently published Growing Fruit in Northern Gardens. She continues to give workshops on a wide range of gardening topics throughout the prairies.

This column is provided courtesy of the Saskatchewan Perennial Society (SPS; saskperennial@hotmail.com ). Check our website (www.saskperennial.ca) or Facebook page (www.facebook.com/saskperennial) for a list of upcoming gardening events: Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m.: Free SPS Public Education event at Emmanuel Anglican Church, corner of Dufferin and 12th Street, Saskatoon — Alan Weninger will present “Botanizing in the Altai Mountains of Russia and Mongolia”.

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