Kitchen Garden Forum

Has anyone every tried drying geraniums and wrapping them in newspaper for the winter? I've heard it works, but don't want to lose mine by testing it and finding it doesn't. (I've got more varieties of geranium, pelargonium and attar rose than I have windowsills, so potting for the winter is a pain.)

Hello Kay
I used to do this years ago and its works well. Let the plant dry off and then remove the dried leaves and flower stalks but don't cut the stems back. Gently shake off the soil from the roots and tidy them up then you're ready to wrap them up. The whole plant needs to be wrapped. They'll have to be kept somewhere cool, dry and frost-free. In the following spring you can give the top and bottom a good cutting back and then pot up as usual. The plants will grow on much larger in their second year.
I don't do this anymore mainly because I use the geranium plug plants that are widely available in the spring at very reasonable prices. If you have some special varieties though that you want to keep over, it's well worth having a go.

John

PS Its not 100% - you'll lose the odd one or two plants.

Thanks! Confidence boosted, I'll have a go.

Me too. Does it work with Fuschias as well?

Hi Tigger'
In my youth Fuchias were overwintered in a Fuchia Pit. A hole dug about 2ft deep and the Fuchias laid in and covered with newspaper and then backfilled and then come Spring they were dug up and replanted at the end of April. My Grandfather used to put bales of straw on top of the soil there as well. They were lifted and put into the greenhouse and allowed to sprout and cuttings were taken just the same as Dahlias.
I think Geraniums were treated the same but my GF was not a fan of Geraniums and I simply cannot abide the smell of them so nor am I.
JB.

You can get geraniums with fancy smells. I've got one that smells like Vick Vapour Rub(hooray?) and a minty one. And then there's the attar rose - turkish delight Mmmm!

Kay, would that be Geranium Tomentosum?

Big soft velvety leaves.

Insignificant white flowers.

Quite possibly - my latin's not that good so I'm not sure!

I have three fuchsia bushes that form part of a hedge at the back of my garden. I've never put them in a 'pit' or done anything other than prune them back heavily in the spring... they seem to be okay (although they haven't produced their normal abundance flowers this year)... I should probably divide them, as they're getting a bit thick around the base...

Are we talking about the same sort of fuchsia here JB?

Oh, and by the way, I like the sound of geraniums that smell like Turksih delight. Any idea where I can get some?

that's the attar rose. Quite a common one in garden centres I think. It's got a little pink flower.

I think you have hedging fuschias Mr PH. Very small flowers and very hardy. I have some which I hack back every year and they've been in my garden for at least 18 years now.

There's a fantastic nursery/grower who has every geranium you can think of, and more, just outside Stratford. They do mail order too and the plants are very reasonably priced.

Aaaah,

I think I must have been having a brainstorm this morning...

Any tips for dividing hedging fuchsias?

I just dug one of mine up, hacked it in two and replanted it. Maybe I was just lucky but it worked.

Hi Mr PH,
There are several varieties of Fuchsia that are hardy but the vast majority are very tender.
It is the tender varieties that I refer to and I was also talking of when Fuchsias were a comparatively rare plant to the normal gardener.
JB.