hardy geranium photo album updated

hi all

following a few requests my photo album showing the flowers of hardy geraniums has been updated to show maximum height, lowest temperature and the parents of cultivars.

here is the link
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1389828&a=10396280&f=0


Mark

Mark, Your geraniums are beautiful! This is my first year at growing them and I didn't realize how many varieties there are. If mine turn out half as pretty as yours, I'll be thrilled!!

hi djm

in their first year hardy geraniums dont look so hot the each sucessive year they get bigger and better.

This year I have started something new so they dont get blown around by the wind and end up flat on the ground. in the spring just as growth starts I put a up turned hanging basket over the geranium. the stems grow through the holes and get supported. in a few weeks the basket cant be seen.

Mark

Great idea! I have one that looks like it was dropped from a height and splatted on the ground. I didn't know how to raise all it's arms up so was just going to leave it and hope it would start to reach up by itself. Now that you're here, I just posted on Alans post asking either you or Mary if the geranium tuberosa was a true geranium? I had gotten a bulb catalog and this geranium was pictured. The price was $5.25 for 25 Bulbs! Flowers were purplish with pink veining if I remember correctly. Have you heard of this type.

yes G tuberosum is a true geranium. here's a photo of mine
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1389828&a=10396280&p=48661956&Scale=530x400

in a few years you will have a carpet of them.

Mark

Mark - I have just seen you post to a thread of mine in the Co-op forum. Our plants were bare rooted and I lost one. I have never planted bare root before so I put mine in pots. It is obvious that some other members who received the roots were not successful. Can you give them some advice please? Another question - how hard is it to grow geraniums from seeds and when would one collect the seed? Thanks!

I ordered 15 of the geraniums through the co op, and today I finally found 2 of them that finally started to grow. They are almost 2" high. I hope all the rain we've had didn't rot them. I'm going out in tne morning to check more closely to see if any others have come up that aren't noticeable.

hi all

bare root plants should only be bought during autumn and spring when there is enough warm in the soil to promote root growth. if your plants were left dry for too long in the nursery the roots are gonna die and then take for ever to recover. Geraniums are stuff little plants but only to a point. I have taken cuttings from plants in pots which a few roots growing which grow really fast while other times they just die. if I had bough bare root perennials of any type I would have potted them into pots first, kept them well watered and put out of the sun like on a north or west facing wall.

Geraniums are dead easy from seed but this is the wrong time. the best time is late autumn so they get a winter chill which really gets them going the following spring.

Mark

Mark thanks for this. I was hoping that you might copy this info and post it on the co-op forum - some disappointed people there! Mine are doing fine because I did plant them in pots whereas other members put them into the ground I think and we had such a wet spring. However, we did receive them in the Spring.

for everyone's interest I have just updated the geranium page by adding a further 10 shots.

Mark, loved the site, but i have a geranium that is not on your pages, its certainly a geranium can tell by its leaves but it looks like a small pincushion flower its deep red inside but the outside is fluffy what can it be? Sheila

Sheila can you post a photo or scan a flower using a flatbed scanner?

Mark

No have not got a digital camera or a scanner but if you want i can send you a cutting-it is growing in a small pot but by the end of summer will be big enough to split.

I never turn down a geranium. I'll do you a swap. over the last few days I've been taking cuttings for people including our Dave.

Mark

Gorgeous photos,Mark!! I never knew there were so many types of hardy Geraniums.I think one can find 1 or 2 types here,but I never checked the sorts.Do they grow best in sun or shade? If I find some here,I have just the place!
Gwist

Hi Mark, just found this site today and your photos are great, can you help I have been looking for a digital camera what a mined field, I want it for phtographing flowers especially phlox paniculata. Like the gerianums they have amny shades of pink which you have manage to retain can you give me any advise please.

hi there Cobble

I haven't got round to a digital camera just yet due to the cost here in the UK. I'll be waiting until I next visit the US.

The camera I hope to buy is a Fuji 1400 or a 2400. the reason for picking these 2 is because they focus to 4 inches in macro mode and dont cost an arm and a leg.

the camera I use for all my shots is a Canon EOS 600 SLR with a 100mm macro lens made my Sigma. it focuses so close that the central button on a daisy can fill the whole photo/slide. I use slide film because I also give talks on garden plants and are easier to scan onto the pc using a Nikon coolscan 3 slide scanner.

here's a link that shows all my photo albums by species of flower
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=1389828

Mark

Many thanks for your advice, but how much cheaper are they in US as I am going their in August, is it worth the wait and as I am visiting Florida will there be any where in particular to get one.