Rosebud Pelargoniums

 

Though geraniums are considered ‘old lady’ flowers
or ‘old fashioned’  I have fond memories of them being
over wintered in the kitchen widow of my grandma’s home.
Setting in her sunny window they  would often have a  few
blooms in the dead of winter and may have been the only
colorful flowers that she had in the winter other than the
foliage plants of a Snake plant or as some call them
Mother-in-laws tongue.
So call me sentimental but I love geraniums.
There are just so many varieties, they are easy to grow
and they can be over wintered so this would make them
winners to a person like myself who has trouble geminating
seeds but can even get geranium seeds to grow.
Every summer I always write about them.
Maybe because I keep accumulating more and more of
them to add to the ones I keep around all winter in the basement.
I set pots of them in the basement and when I run short
of space take them out of their pots and hang them from
their roots by a piece of twine during the winter and pot them
up again in very early spring.

 

Last Summer Lynn over at  Flower Gardening had this
beautiful Apple Blossom Rosebud geranium that she
had propagated from a friend’s plant.
Well I fell in love with this beauty that she had with its tiny
double blooms that looked like roses, so  I had
to find one like it from somewhere. I searched and finally 
found them at Select  Seed.

 

Not only did they have the Apple Blossom variety but they
also had this Red or Crimson Rosebud geranium.
So two new geraniums have joined to the geranium collection.
What is not to love about these two old ladies flowers??

 

Since I am not a very knowledgeable country gardener I
assumed these Rosebud pelargoniums were something new
to the market but while searching for them I learned that they
had actually been around since 1850. Miniature in size these
ornamental zonal geraniums were often used in button holes
or Victorian bud vases.

I found this old basket at a Goodwill store and spray painted
it a turquoise. It was just the thing to set the two new potted geraniums in out on the front porch.

Some additional information:

They like full sun, grow to 12-16 inches tall, and minimum
temperature to 35 degrees. They bloom repeatedly from spring through fall and can be grown indoors. 
They can be propagated from cuttings or seeds.

Happy Gardening Everyone !!
Lona

 

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