Red Geraniums

[Belindabelle]

This year I bought some geraniums to plant in pots as bedding plants. They are still going strong and in fact I feel that most of them are only just starting to come into full bloom. Lots of buds.

Can I re pot and bring them inside. I know you can keep geraniums dormant over winter but I don’t have the space so they normally get put in the garden waste with the lobelia etc.

I would love to try and keep them flowering maybe even until Christmas. Would that be possible?

Also this year I planted double headed begonias. My what a display and they are still looking good. I understand that I can keep the bulbs/corms. How would I go about storing these for next year?

Thank you

I left my pelargoniums outside last winter and they survived. They were in a sheltered spot and I'm in one of the warmer parts of South East England.

If I keep the corms and bulb, I brush off the soil and let them dry then put them in a paper bag in a cool dry place.

ILoveShula

I left my pelargoniums outside last winter and they survived. They were in a sheltered spot and I'm in one of the warmer parts of South East England“

Some of ours did, too

sheltered spot in the garden, protected from our fierce winds here in the NW and they’ve been glorious this year, happily still budding away as I write. Our french lavender is midway through a glorious second flush and Japanese anemones absolutely spectacular this year.

Tomatoes, rhubarb and courgettes still prolific too, new flowers coming on tomatoes and courgettes even now. Latest ever (outdoors, not under glass).

All very lovely but I’m trying hard not to think too deeply about what’s driving it all.

It was the wet warm weather we had earlier. My primulas thought it was spring.

I've got quite a few things still growing

Broad beans did badly this year but the runner beans are abundant.

The lavender put on a second flush.
The climbing roses shot up in September. I'm not keen on the colour of one. It'was a gift, and it's in the wrong place, but it is so prolific. Should I move it?

I am in central Scotland. It has turned a wee bit colder in the last two days but it was 23’c on Saturday. I have a load of tulip bulbs to plant but the soil will be far too warm.

I don’t think you’ll overwinter them outside in Scotland, but they will probably be fine inside. Not too warm, else theyll make leggy growth because there isn’t enough light.

Mine are in an unheated conservatory and flower all the year round

shula Primulas are among a number of plants which will have a second flush of flowers in autumn

I didn't know that @MereDintofPandiculation. An added bonus for plants I got for pennies in the clearance section at waitys. I got a pile of bedding plants in wilko at the weekend too and they are now in the window box. My 'kerb appeal' floristry is a bit mismatched. Autumnal window box and summer hanging basket.

I've got several that are a few years old that live outside (sunny south east ) , but I was very close to the sea , literally 3 mins walk and I could be paddling so less chance of a heavy frost . I have moved back inland and now around 1/2 a mile from the sea so expect to loose some to frost , they can usually survive happily up to -6° but the real problem is having too much moisture in the pot that freezes around the roots killing them
Yours might flower if you can give them enough light but even on a sunny windowsill they may not have enough during the shorter winter days ( being slightly dry will cause them to flower as they want to seed if they think they are about to dry up and die )

@ILoveShula

I didn't know that *@MereDintofPandiculation*. An added bonus for plants I got for pennies in the clearance section at waitys. I got a pile of bedding plants in wilko at the weekend too and they are now in the window box. My 'kerb appeal' floristry is a bit mismatched. Autumnal window box and summer hanging basket.

They don't do it every year, but quite often if conditions are right.

And if they do seed, you can sow the seed, and get the first flowers about a year later. No guarantee that they'll look like the parent.

The seedpods are like those of cranesbill, hardy Geranium, to which they are related, despite being in a different genus Pelargonium - long beak shaped pods, with the seeds at the base. The pod splits up along the length leaving the seeds on long strings fastened to the op of the pod like a maypole with the dancers on the end of the ribbons. I'm told that the strings dry and cause the seeds to be catapulted but I haven't seen that happen.

My nasturtiums self seeded. The new ones were all orange. Not the beautiful colours of the originals.