Re: [gardeners] Geraniums
Ron Hay (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 25 Sep 2001 07:45:31 -0700
Hello, again, Penny,
Pelargoniums are often very perverse creatures. Last fall, I very
carefully made cuttings of our favorite regals, bought sterilized
potting soil, perlite, mixed it with local soil and a bit of sand.
Sterilized the knife after each cutting. Every bloomin' one of them
croaked!
I had run out of pots and stuck a few stems in the ground, out between
the mandarin and blood orange and ignored them all during the cooler
months. Come spring, they all blossomed forth and are about 3 feet high!
An observation on your geraniums and the compost pile. It is likely that
the heat of decomposition kept them just warm enough to survive the
winter. Sometimes when we go out to our compost bin in the "winter," I
am amazed to see condensation on the outside of the barrel, feel the
heat when opening the lid, and surprised to see the occasional mango
seed that has germinated (!).
Speaking of people staying away in droves, the phones at our office have
virtuallly stopped ringing. Yesterday, it felt as if I were working in
an undiscovered cave:(
Well, it's out to give the roses another dose of Orthene, in the hope of
saving about a hundred dollars worth of new roses, plus the lovely ones
we aleady had.
Ron