Saturday, November 19, 2011

Wintering Geraniums

Last month, I brought in over a dozen fairly good sized geraniums to spend the winter in the garage.

Past failed attempts at keeping geraniums alive over previous winters included hanging the roots upside down (a definite failure), wintering the pots in the outside garden shed (they all died within two weeks), and then last year, they spent the winter in the house near a west window (some lived, but did not thrive) and in the garage (they actually lived and and even put on new leaves!).

An inexpensive shelving unit was purchased and assembled by the husband so that more pots could benefit from the sunny east facing garage.  He even cleaned up his work bench to allow room for the shelves.  And he hardly grumbled; that was probably just as sweet of him as assembling the shelves.


The plants are close to an east window in the garage, and seem to be doing fairly well after about six weeks in their winter home.  I've been watering them about every three weeks.


Some lovely  geranium art pictures from Barbara's blog:


Caroline Lord (American artist, 1860-1927) Woman with Geranium

Aristide Maillol (French artist, 1861-1944) Portrait de Lucien 1896


Alfred Stevens (Belgian Painter, 1823-1906) Still Life with Geraniums 1889

Paul Cezanne (French artist, 1839-1906) The Flower Pots 1883-87
Nancy McCarroll, Oil

4 comments:

  1. My garage looks like a greenhouse too:) We keep all of the potted plants in there during the cold months! On a warm and sunny day, my husband will haul EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM out for some sunshine! What a guy:) Have a blessed weekend and a Happy Thanksgiving! HUGS!

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  2. I have not had much luck wintering over in the garage or otherwise. Some few things will make it, but my success rate is low, so I've given up for a while.

    I love the art, especially your painting. I love watercolor and am trying to get up the nerve to try it.

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  3. I don't have a garage, so I bring everything into a spare bedroom and leave them for the winter. They do all right, but they shed leaves terribly at first.

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  4. I love this post...geraniums are a favorite of mine. Even tho they smell funny, I welcome their fragrance. Well, I had one thrive on my front porch (facing east) for two years and thru the winter, blooming in December one year. Of course, some of our Decembers yield 70+°. The area you chose looks good for the winter-plenty of light. Some winters we put a sun lamp in our shed, if the nites were going to get below 30°. Your geraniums look great, and your painting is wonderful, along with the others you posted. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family Nancy...ooxx

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