GeraniumsI love them. I used to despise them - the smell, the look. They reminded me of flowers in front of the stones in graveyards. They were too commonplace.
But then something changed - I noticed how the flowers danced above the foilage. I started liking all the garish colors. I started to notice their depictions in art and fabric design. I saw photos of them blooming unabashedly on the Greek Isles. I discovered the varieties with multi-colored leaves. And then, best of all, I found I could put them in pots and they didn't need much tending or watering. Suddenly, they were the plant for me. I bought these at Walker Farm up in Dummerston, Vermont. (If you're close, definitely a destination to travel to if you are a gardener.)
I over-winter them in my studio and they bloom all winter long. I pick the flowers and put them in bouquets in the kitchen when it is dreary and cold. Right now, I've got pale pink (for Julia), salmon, and and a hot coral. They make me happy all year.I love geraniums now. It's funny how your taste changes over the years. But it does.
9 comments:
It is as if you are writing "my" story. I also used to hate the smell, look and site of them. They reminded me of "old people" and as if the geranium was all they knew how to grow!
Then I saw them differently in pots in my own garden, didn't need alot of work or tending and certainly kept growing!
I love them now and continue to!
Cheers to the GERANIUM! or as my kids used to call it the "germanium"
Great pictures! I also really enjoy the trailing/vining variety. They don't have the fuzzy leaves, but the blooms are just as pretty.
My mom has always kept geraniums. I think they're lovely. They remind me of home.
For me, the love/hate flowers are petunias. I think they are floppy and silly looking, but my grandpa has always filled his yard with them, and my mom started planting them in her garden when I was a teenager (I always helped). So, I have an odd nostalgia for petunias, even though they would otherwise not be my favorite flower!
An extra plus with geraniums are the "scented" varieties. THere are some with leaves that smell of lemon, mint and even chocolate! They're also edible, so you can use them with pound cakes or sugar them for cake decorating. Mmmmm. Check out some info on MS - http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel1539&contentGroup=MSL&site=living - I know, I know.
Your Geraniums are gorgeous. I've been bringing mine inside too for the last few years. However I can never seem to coax them into blooming in the winter. Mostly they just die back a bit.. but stay green. But they perk up in the Spring when they move back outside. Do you do anything extra/special to keep them going all year long?
My studio window is south facing so there is morning sun up til about noon even in the winter. I don't feed them at all and don't water them too much. They usually start blooming again when the days start getting longer.
Sometimes I take cuttings off of them and bring them up into the kitchen windows - they actually grow and bloom in the vases and root. Then I pot them up in the spring and have more plants.
Kristin
Lovely flowers, a reflection of you colour palette I think.
Ditto on your comment re our changing tastes, I used to have a problem with frangipanni in winter, now I love their architectural sculptures in the winter light, maybe out tastes age as we do.
Sally - I think I am with you on our tastes changing as we age. Makes life interesting. What is frangipanni? Sounds interesting.
Kristin
Post a Comment