The days are getting longer, January is almost over, and we know that whatever the weather throws at us now, it won’t be here for too long! So there is reason for optimism, gardeners!
So many gardeners bring in their geraniums in the fall, and it is understandable because don’t they seem to look their most verdant in the fall? It’s a shame to not take them any further. Whatever method of saving geraniums you choose, either bringing in the potted plants, taking cuttings, or using the bare-root method, saving your geraniums will give you a head start in the spring, plus allow you to enjoy the beauty of the plant for another season.
Geraniums have come so far in terms of color, with our choices ranging from white to pinks to salmon and all kinds of exciting shades of red or tangerine! And some of them have such stunning foliage that it wouldn’t matter if they bloomed at all.
But let’s have a cup of tea now and let me tell you some interesting little factoids I learned about geraniums. I was reading a book called “Strangers In The Garden: The Secret Lives of Our Favorite Flowers” by Andrew Smith, and he gives us some fascinating background information about the flowers we know and love.
Tracing back, the geranium calls South Africa home. Hundreds of years ago, the Dutch East India Company merchant sailing ships used to stop at the southern tip of Africa to stock up on fresh water. Well, there were a few gardeners among those sailors who came ashore, and they were intrigued by the sturdy, scented plants that they saw growing there. Whether they gathered some seeds or dug up a few plants, somehow the pelargonium made it back to Holland.
The story continues over years and several shipwrecks later, as shipwrecked sailors formed a settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, which eventually sent twenty varieties of geraniums heading to Europe thanks to the efforts of a Dutch professor of botany, Paul Hermann. A short time later, a Swedish man named Carl Pehr Thunberg arrived at the Cape in 1772, followed by a Scotsman Francis Masson. Together they explored the veldt and collected hundreds of plants, including not only all kinds of geraniums but orchids and lilies as well, which eventually found their way to England and gardens all through Europe. By the late 1700’s, garden beds in various shapes were being planted in Victorian England, full of wild color combinations of flowers. When the Prince and Princess of Wales had their dead son’s grave planted with brilliantly colored geraniums and verbenas in 1871, the geranium suddenly became a very famous flower indeed, and the tradition of “bedding out” flower beds continues to this day with the rainbow of annuals that we enjoy.
So now, gardeners, when we look at geraniums, we will know the many trials and tribulations that plant collectors went through to bring this plant across oceans and centuries to us! They could not have imagined the popularity of the geranium today!
The first 2015 meeting of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be on Wednesday, February 18 at 7:00 PM in the Sunshine Room at SIGN on North Street. Please note the new meeting day, Wednesday February 18. And be sure to circle Saturday, March 14 on your calendars: that’s the date of the Prairie Sun Seed Festival, a great, informative day that you’ll want to attend.
Have a great week!
