The Dirt Diggers Garden Club discussed five things to love about zonal geraniums when members met June 12 at Greystone Assisted Living.
1. Container superstar. They look great in containers, provide different color flowers and a steady supply of color that makes a big impact up close or from a distance.
2. Fantastic foliage. Most have a zone on the leaf, faint or dark, narrow or wide. But fancy leaf varieties make colorful foliage.
3. They make a big splash almost anywhere. You can also fill a bed or edge a border. A big mass of one color is economical. When started with seeds, flowers are smaller and single.
4. They are easy to grow. It doesnt take a lot of fuss. Give the plant six or more hours of sun. They bloom in late spring to frost. Use slow-release fertilizer at planting time. To get more blooms, feed every time you water with water soluble, all-purpose plant food at quarter strength. Remove spent blooms. Follow slender bloom stem back to the main stem and snip it off.
5. You can keep them for many years. Bring them in and put in a sunny window or sunroom, cut back on water and dont feed. Dig up and store in paper bags or boxes. Dig in fall and shake off as much soil as you can. Remove foliage that looks dead or diseased and set the plant aside to dry for a couple of days out of direct sunlight. Store upside down. Pull plants out 6 to 8 weeks before last frost date. Cut the stems back to the green part of the stem and pot them. You should see new growth in a couple of days.
THE NEXT meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. July 10 at the home of Shirley Robertson.
