Geraniums-Mark your advice wanted.

Mark, today i received a catalogue which had the geranium Splish Splash, what are your thoughts on this one. Sheila in NW England

Me too, Mark. I had (or have) an Anne Folkard (not sure of spelling) that was in poor shape. I had planted it in the little peat pot it came in and it just went downhill. I thought it would recover once it settled down but lost more and more leaves. this was about 6 weeks ago. I took it up, it's roots hadn't even penetrated through the pot, so I took it out and planted in a clay pot. Today, I decided it was dead and gone and took it out of the clay pot to discard. Has a large root mass, and i just scritched my fingernail over part of the tuber, to make sure it was dead and there is life there, albeit not much, but any hope? Doris

Sheila......I have collected seeds of Splish Splash, and would be happy to send you some.
Marigold.

doris, i have some Anne Folkard and could probably divide it for you if you want some

lil

Oh thanks Marigold,you have sent me seeds before if i remember, the blue poppy? What can i send you, i have some patio rose cuttings if you like roses, also have loads of seeds but mainly common varieties of perennials etc. I have some viola seed if you grow these.

Sheila, you have mail.
Marigold.

Oh Lilith, Thanks so much for your kind offer, but let me see if this root mass might grow inside first. This being the first year I tried growing them, I don't want to kill your piece of root, too. Is there some special stimulate I can give it? Then if it won't live, at least I know where to come and beg a little piece! Thanks so much for offering to help. Should I keep mine inside, we're getting a freeze tonight? Or is it better wintering inside til spring? Light or cool dark? Thanks again, Doris.
PS, If theres no sign of life after 3 or 4 weeks after repotting it, you may hear from me!

sorry for the delay people.

DJM, psiolstemon 'Ann Folkard' is way too big a plant to be restricted in a pot. she can easily spread to 4 feet in a season. at this time of year prune her back and wait for spring to come again. if you are gonna keep geraniums in pots plant them in the biggest one you can get. if you plant any psilostemon in a large pot it will trail nicely over the sides.

Sheila, pratense striatum aka 'Splish Splash' is a lovely plant. the petals come in all combinations of pure white, pure blue and speckled petals. I had one this year that had 4 white petals and one blue. what catalogue is it in?

Marigold, seeds dont necessarily come true as geraniums cross very easily with each other.

Mark

Geraniums? Have never grown them.Ok,Mark, you sound like the expert here on these babies. If I where to grow one in a good size pot,what would you or anyone else suggest. I just might.......I did say might try and grow one in a pot next year but need to do alittle research first before getting that far. With this Texas heat,have to be real careful what we plant and where or it won't take long for it to dry up and die from the heat and the strong winds we have.

Now that I have all that out of the way.....Good Morning everyone.Well,it's morning here anyway.I guess I should say; Good Day.
As soon as DH gets up,I get the great pleasure of taking everything out of my closet and see if I can find that mouse that I seen go in there the other day. I just hope it didn't die or build a nest. I have a good size walk-in closet with alot of memorable items in there so will have to go through each and every box. I even have my wedding dress in there all boxed up. I hate the thought if there's a nest in there........heaven forbid. Going to take me most of the day to do that so that takes care of me doing anything else for the rest of the day. Dh IS going to take everything out but I will put it all back in making sure there is no mouse in sight.Will leave both bedroom doors open just in case I need to make a be-line to the front door just in case that mouse comes out at me. I'm gone in a flash!
Well gotta go. You all have a good day and will let you know how I come out with this little critter.

CoCo I am, I think, the geranium expert.

the geranium depends on if you want a tall one, medium height or one that will hang over the sides of the pot. any favorite colors? blues, pinks, white?

Mark

Its in the Spalding bulb catalogue but the seeds i think are in Thompson and Morgan one. Sheila

I got 2 out of 10 seeds to start from this, but the seeds were bought 2 years ago, so I feel lucky:) both growing and happy, can't wait to see them bloom next year.

Color doesn't matter,just something that gets nice and bushy.

I haven't seen one that I didn't fall in love with!! When Marks website is back up, it's worse than flipping through a seed catalog! I have a list a mile long:)

CoCo for pure flower power I suggest you get yourself Geranium 'Rozanne'. she flowers from late spring right up to the frosts. if you can buy that get 'Bertie Crug'

my young webmaster is working hard fixing my web site. It's actually on line but the menu bar is missing along with the script that makes thumbnail images open to larger ones.

Mark

be sure and let us know when it's back up Mark, I still have the back of the page to fill!! LOL!!!

soon I hope.

I tried to get your package away today but was home too late to catch the post office.

Mark

just so you know, yours is going out tomorrow, didn't get out Saturday like I hoped.

This message was edited Monday, Oct 8th 3:34 PM

Thank you Mark for the information on the Geraniums. Will see what I can find come next spring.

Mark! After pulling up sime dead stuff in the garden, I came upon another geranium in dire stress. It was covered by spreading leaves of another plant. This one, a dalmaticum, has two little clumps of leaves under an inch. I dug it up and took it from its peat pot, had an awful time trying to cut through it. Now, it's been chilly and much rain here, and I hesitate to replant it as it may not get settled before a freeze sets in. Can I winter this inside the house for the winter? Doris.
PS I'm beginning to think I am more of a menace to my geraniums than a silly gardener!

Doris, I would plant the G dalmaticum. the rain will help the roots grow into the soil. wintering a perennial inside will make it grow too much when it should be dormant.

Mark

Thanks Mark. I'll put it back out tomorrow, not supposed to rain. There was so much rain yesterday, part of the garden was under water. Had about 4-5 inches rain in about 20 hours.