This Week in the Greenhouse: Overwintering Geraniums

January. Finally. I’ve been anxiously anticipating the new year and the progression of the seasons. I have known for a long time how the feeling of potting mix, or the weight of a good pair of pruning shears melts stress and lightens my mood. Between the pandemic, quarantines, restrictions, and politics that have overwhelmed me this year I found escape in my garden. It became a haven for me and my family as we weathered the spring, summer, and fall in our own paradise. I began to feel the absence of garden therapy as the brisk days turned more chilly and even more as the snow fell and icy crystals coated my branches.

So in this new year and new beginning I’m finding a new sense of calm and hope when I walk out to the greenhouse to take a deep breath and check on my plants.

This is the first year we’ve heated the greenhouse all winter {I’ve got a post on heating the greenhouse coming soon}. On cold, sunny days it’s amazing to walk inside and find temperatures over 65 degrees when we are in the 20’s outside.

January felt like a milestone in the greenhouse. Up until now the greenhouse has soley been harboring plants to overwinter, I haven’t been actively growing. Enter the overwintered geraniums.

This fall before our temperatures dipped below freezing I took about half of my geraniums to experiment an overwintering technique. I dug up my geraniums from my hanging baskets and containers, rinsed the soil from their roots, trimmed them so they were about 4-6″ tall and placed them upside down in individual paper bags. I stored the bags in a cool basement closet and waited for the calendar to read 2021.

When I opened the bags this past Saturday I was pleased to find firm, green stems, and even some pale new growth! I soaked the roots in water for a while and then potted them up. I’m hoping the early start will allow me to take and root some additional cuttings.