Propagating Geraniums

I do this in two ways...from seed and from soft tissue cuttings. For the latter I use bulb jars, just because they are small and attractive. I pinch soft, green tips with a few leaves off my favorite plants and keep them in the little jars of water until they are well-rooted. Then I plant them in containers of earth. This winter I am using four-inch pots, as space is an issue.

The first one I did last fall is blooming for the second time.

Seeds are started, usually earlier than this, but March is acceptable, in cookie containers. Beck likes the cookies that come in clear plastic, snap lid containers so I have saved several over the winter.

I fill the bottom half with seed starting mix, moisten with warm water, firm the evenly spaced seeds, about six to a box onto the surface of the soil and cover with just a dusting of dry seed starting mix.

Then I snap the boxes shut, write the variety and date on the label and set in a sunny window. When the seedlings are large and robust they can be transplanted to the container of your choice.

Most of the geraniums I have now were started from seeds over the years. In fact last fall I had so many more than I had room for that any that were scraggly and worn out got the frost treatment. I felt bad about it and kept bringing in "{just one more" but I did manage to toast a few of them.

High summer

And everything is weird. It rains almost every day. Always enough to shut down the haying. Never enough to actually get the plants wet. I have had to water all the bucket and pot plants all summer.


The winesap apple set lots of fruit, but most of them are falling off now. They seem to have been pollinated, so maybe it is a characteristic of the type of tree. I don't really know as this tree has never set any amount of fruit before. I am not even sure it is a winesap, as I don't remember which tree was which. Peg had them...the other was a black astracan ( a historic variety to which there doesn't seem to be much reference). I am hoping even a third of apples that are left hang on to the tree. We are not set up to do anything about insect control, but they would make nice applesauce I think.

I am going to pick whatever zucchini is out on the vines today. We will be gone when it matures and I don't want to waste it. If I find enough I will cook it with some of our homemade breakfast sausage, baby rainbow carrots and rice for dinner tonight.


The sunflowers are way over my head now. Geraniums and petunias grown from seed are beginning to flower. It is always so exciting waiting to see what color they will turn out to be as I usually plant mixes.

Cobweb hens and chicks

The jury is still out on the Dolce Flambe petunias. They are an interestingly delicate combination of white, pink and yellow, but are not very eye-catching from a distance. I am waiting to see if they become more showy as they develop more flowers. Meanwhile there are a lot of things blooming now and we and the hummingbirds are much enjoying them.

Cats in the Garden Pond two by two

And in my freshly tilled soil everywhere. These darned little barn cats wrecked my first planting of beans, which I replanted yesterday. They are always knocking over the water garden plants and trying to catch the gold fish and koi. The only one that doesn't drive me nuts is Kashette.

If you think that wheelbarrow is going to keep us out of that nice litter box you just tilled up, think again!

Defense against the dark (cat) arts

We didn't do it...and that's our story and we're stickin' to it

Yesterday after night milking the boss took the skid steer with the stone bucket on it and dug over my old sheep pen garden patch. It is so fertile up there (after years of housing sheep) that a cow parsley plant will have a root as big as my wrist in a few months. The soil was very dry and worked up beautifully to a fine, crumbly texture. Wish I could plant today, but it rained a little last night and our soil is such that if you touch it when wet it compacts to the consistency of hardened cement.



While he dug I weeded my squash and giant sunflowers and put a little Sevin on the squash. Cucumber beetles are practically wiping it out. I have been gardening every minute that I am not milking cows, bookkeeping, cooking or writing...and there has been darned little cooking or bookkeeping going on around here. I do flowers one day and food the next. I couldn't get very forward with the food gardening though until the boss got my ground ready for me. Soon as it dries out, full speed ahead.

Geranium and petunia seedlings, just planted and waiting for some sun.

Partial Eclipse of the Sun

(Flower)

2007 Fonda Fair entries from Northview

(Not including cows)

Slendrette or Slankette Green Beans

Purple Cayenne Peppers

Dish Garden

Three zinnias mixed

Arrangement in cup and Saucer

Yellow fellows