| How can I winterize oudoor geraniums so I can plant them outdoors next summer? Treat them as an indoor plant or somehow just make them dormant (which I would rather do). |
| There are two ways to keep geraniums from year to year. You can take leaf or stem cuttings from the plant, put them in small pots, and grow them on your sunny windowsill in the wintertime. Or, you can grow your geraniums in pots (sink the pots into the ground if you prefer to have them in the garden). When the weather cools in late autumn, cut the stems from the plants until they're even with the sides of the pots. Then place the pots in a protected place, like in a garage, until new sprouts show in the spring. Begin watering, take the plants outdoors, and in a matter of weeks you'll have a new geranium plant. Or, you can bury the pots in the ground next to the foundation of your house, mulch with straw or pine boughs, and let them spend the winter there. In the spring water the pots and when the roots come out of dormancy they'll sprout new stems. |
