Geraniums, Winter 2009

Seeing how today turned out to sort of match weather forecasts and it is unusually warm and sunny, I decided to give some TLC to my suffering geraniums. I don't know who suffers more when they're indoors wintering, me looking at their sad condition, or them, with the dry air drafts drying up their leaves and lack of direct sunshine causing an anemic-like malaise.

My grandmother (and others, recently) suggested I do like the Swiss, and pull them out and hang them upside down. That seems terribly harsh treatment for a live plant, and I prefer to continue leaving them interred and on top of a stylish, garden-y metal stool, near a sunny window in my kitchen.

However, since today is just a picture-perfect pre-Spring day, they and their pot got a little clean up, pruning, and a lot of picking off of dead leaves and other accumulated, decaying organic matter.

I wish I'd captured a snap of them before I cleaned them up. It's a big difference. They've also been watered and now, will hopefully begin their Spring rebirth starting with today's vitamin D session. Do you have plants at home or work that you care for?

I love these guys. I bought them the first summer (2005) we spent in our current townhome. How long do you think a typical person keeps their plants?

My geraniums really seem to thrive starting late spring and, of course, during the height of summer until October.