Did you know you can keep Geraniums year after year? Yes. Yes you can. They are usually planted as an annual—but they are actually pretty darn easy to turn into a perennial.
There are a couple of ways to go about overwintering them, so you can use them again next planting season.
The easiest way is to dig them up, and replant them in pots in the garage. Cut them back by about 1/3 when you move them into the garage. Make sure that you choose a pot that will accommodate their root ball. Water them waaaay less frequently than you would during their growing season {like once or twice a month or so}, and if you don’t have a window in the garage for light, you may want to supplement them with additional light. Though, it’s been my experience that they can tolerate a lot less light than you would think.
If you aren’t interested in having potted plants in your garage, you can treat them more like a bulb and force them into dormancy by digging them up, brushing the clumps of dirt off of the roots and hanging them upside down in a cool dry place {garage, unfinished basement}. They like the temperature to hover in the low 50’s to maintain dormancy. You’ll want to water the roots once a month or so. This method is a little trickier than just keeping them potted.
Finally, if you want to multiply how many geraniums you get to plant next year, you can take cuttings from the plant, stick them into a pot/container of vermiculite and wet it thoroughly. Make sure the pot/container has great drainage. Set them in a nice bright location {like a window sill} and wait for them to take root. Water the vermiculite regularly. It will take about 3-4 weeks before you get roots strong enough to transfer the cuttings into potting soil. Oh, and make sure when you take the cuts, you take them from the tips of the plant—the woody part of the stem does not root well. For added success, you can also dip the cuttings in a root stimulator to give them an added boost.
Do you keep your geraniums each year? How many years have you gotten out of them?
~Mavis
Stephenie says
Oh YES! I learned this from my grandmother, who always had a riotous porch full of blooming scarlet geraniums all year round. They love a sunny, cool window and bloom all winter, then I cut them back hard in late winter/early spring and they grow lots of new leaves then. I have had some for years and they keep on coming. Love them! Hard to kill, a big positive.
H says
My garage gets cold during the winter. Are the geraniums okay there?
Mavis Butterfield says
They should be. My old neighbor always put hers in the garage.
Carrie Council says
I overwintered a geranium in a nice sunny window. It bloomed all winter and then life got busy and we forgot about it and it died. 🙁
Mary Ann says
Just making the distinction that you are referring to ‘Pelargoniums’, not true Geraniums. True geraniums are perennial.
jennifer says
In the SF bay area, we had a couple of kinds of geraniums growing in our yard year-round. I imagine they got a nipped by frost sometimes, but nothing a good spring trimming can’t fix. I made a few cuttings, dipped the cut in rooting hormone as you mentioned, and just plopped the cutting in the ground (in spring). And away they went! The yard had many mature plants when we bought the place four years ago. Pretty hardy plants.
Katherine White says
I dig up my geraniums knock off the dirt and put them in small paper bags. They stay in my basement until spring then I put them in pots, water and slowly move them to a sunny window until it’s warm enough to plant them outside.
Vistara Sidebottom says
I’m going to try this as I live in Saskatchewan and my summerhouse is waaaaay too cold to overwinter any plants. Fingers Crossed.
Barbara Gantt says
I bring mine inside, put it near a sunny window and it lives. I have a large pink one that was my Mom’s. I have ha dit for 7 years and she had it a couple of years before that.
Karin C says
My grandma has ones that are over 25 years old , we live in the Interior of BC CANADA and it gets cold, wet & Snow, she has a greenhouse that has a small electric heater and they spend the winter in there , she also is the Orchid whisper and has ones that are 15 plus years old , I work in our local hospital and we get given them or they are left from patients and after they behave bloomed I bring them to her and she works her magic .
Paula says
Thank you! I am going to give it a try!
Gail says
Hi Mavis!
I have one potted on my deck, it’s probably time to do something about it. Can I just bring it in and keep it going as a “houseplant?” all winter without any cutting? I have a sunroom off our bedroom and it has east, west, and southern exposure. I just re-potted her at the end of July and she is still blooming and thriving.
Maureen Asper says
I have one pot of beautiful deep, bright red geraniums that I have just moved inside and out for the past 6 or 7 years. I don’t replant them in soil; just move them outside with a bunch of other potted plants. They are still growing strong!
Gloria says
Thank you for this tip! Totally doing this.
Nancy D says
Oh how I appreciate your posts! Thanks for the idea and info! I LOVE geraniums!! This year I have a large red hanging basket of regular (not ivy) geraniums that I actually remembered to fertilize this summer. Its 4 feet wide and 30″ wide (from bloom to bloom) I’m going to try this! Thanks again, Mavis!
Jamie Grimes says
All mine are in pots so I put them in my breezeway for winter. They do well if you just protect them from freezing.. And when I transplant them if any pieces break off I just stick it in dirt. They propagate really easy.
Danielle says
I live in Quebec, Canada so keeping my geraniums in the garage over winter is out of the question. It gets way too cold for that. What I do is cut them back to about 4″ and put them all in a rectangular dishbowl with the roots covered with water. I just add water now and then to keep roots covered. I keep them in low light because I don’t really want them to grow right then. I just want to keep them alive.
In the spring, I move them close to a sunny window and eventually back in the soil outside when it is warm enough.
Marcia Loftin says
As a kid I remember all the geraniums in our class room windows in our little country school in Oregon. Come spring our teacher would take the little milk cartons and teach us how to start a new plant for us to take home to our mothers ,usually for Mother’s Day, that was some time ago, I am 81 years old now, I think of Mrs. smith every year when I bring my geraniums in .
Phil says
So far I’ve had mine three years. Up north they were annuals… first frost killed them, but here in the south they keep coming… Ill be moving mine out of the pots this year and overwintering them.
Karen says
I live in Ontario, Canada and we have very cold winters here. This year I dug up two pink geranium plants from my garden and transplanted then into pots. I gave one to my daughter and the other one is blooming in my kitchen. This is the first year I’ve thought I keeping them indoors for the winter. I work at a long term care home and we have an indoor garden area for the residents where we had geraniums blooming all year long. It was wonderful seeing the bright red & pink blooms of these beautiful plants indoors while the snow piled up outside!