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GROWING GERANIUMS

Geraniums are usually the toughest, most enduring, plants in any garden. In one place I was living, we had a geranium actually growing through the concrete around the house. A bit of local knowledge research discovered that it was a remnant of a previous cottage garden from the 1920s. It had outlasted the entire neighborhood.

Geraniums are grown all over the world. They are perennials, with some characteristics of succulents, having soft, fleshy leaves, and the unpredictable growth habits which make them true architectural plants. Members of the pelargonium family, they're particularly easy to manage, with no bad habits in the garden.

Geraniums are usually grown from cuttings, although some cultivars are grown from seed. Cuttings root easily, and establish best in well drained soil, preferably raised slightly. They can also be grown in hanging baskets and pots. One of their most useful attributes is their adaptability to various conditions in the garden, and they are a good choice for a trustworthy plant for problem areas, except particularly wet places.

Preparation of beds for geraniums is pretty easy. The soil should be friable, not impacted, and an all purpose fertilizer, preferably seaweed, is suggested for basic nutrition for the seedlings or cuttings, particularly in normal soil where basic nutrition levels can vary considerably. (I've never lost a plant using seaweed.) As the plant matures, a basic regime of regular fertilizer application is required. Geraniums require a reliable supply of nitrogen during the growing season, and fertilization each month. A slow release nitrogen fertilizer is recommended to avoid the effects of nitrogen leaching after heavy rain.

Mature plants take up a bit of room, so allow roughly as much space for a full grown geranium as you would for a rose bush. A layer of mulch, preferably heavy types of mulch with a slow breakdown, will keep down weeds and stabilize the soil surface, adding "body" to the basic soil mix. They also help prevent water splash on the plants and formation of fungal cultures on the leaves by transfer.

This is personal taste, but geraniums should not be bunched together. They prefer open space, and have a surprising growth rate which can create difficulties if they have to compete for territory. There's an added risk factor in that when too many plants of one type are in one place; pests and diseases can spread much more easily. This can become a serious problem if one plant is shading another,

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