The most rewarding part of overwintering geraniums is enjoying the non-stop flowers all Summer long. I delight on seeing bright colors and smelling the distinctive geranium fragrance.
The geraniums become gigantic, healthy plants through winterizing them and growing them year after year. And importantly they are environmentally sustainable and completely free (couldn’t be more budget friendly than that!).
And its easy!
3 Steps to Plant Your Overwintered Geraniums
3 Super Easy Steps to Successful Replanting of Winterized Geraniums:
- Remove old leaves
- Plant back in the soil
- Soak with water
Yes, it’s that simple! Its even easier than planting shop bought geraniums because they have so much soil around their roots. Your overwintered geraniums are bare root and can easily be popped back in the ground in less than a minute.
If you are looking to over-winter geraniums, make sure to see the how-to instructions here.
Video Tutorial to Plant Wintered Geraniums
See a full demonstration of bringing out my overwintered geraniums. I review and demonstrate the 3-step process. I also share pairing geraniums with other plants for non-stop flower displays all year long, showing how to incorporate winterized geraniums into an existing flower bed.
Video Tutorial on Winterizing Geraniums at the End of the Season
If you are just now overwintering your geraniums now, follow my 15-minute quick and easy method for wintering your geraniums. Otherwise skip to the next section to continue replanting your winterized geraniums.
The full demonstration is shown along with tips and tricks to ensure success. And full blog is here.
Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to the Ready and Thriving YouTube Channel to be reminded to winterize your geraniums and be inspired by other sustainable, garden design ideas.
1. Remove Old Geranium Leaves
First remove the overwintered geraniums from their paper bag or cardboard box. Second, don’t panic!
Don’t panic! They will look dead. But they are only sleeping.
At first sight, the plants may look dead and dried up. They are not. That is how they are supposed to look now. They will come back.
Take a deep breath, and start to pull off the dead, dry leaves. You may even see the occasional sign of life with a small new leaf (or you may not, which is okay, too).
Gently pull off the dead leaves. On some of your winterized geraniums, you may see tiny leaves already forming. They may be white or green. This is all normal and a great sign.
If you pull them out earlier, there may not be any new leaves. This is fine, too.
Now examine the stems. If any are truly hard, crunchy and dry without any pliability at all, go ahead and trim those off. If there are any stems that are noticeably rotted, black and decomposing, cut those off as well. If in doubt, leave it on the plant. The entire plant will look terrible, so don’t be too harsh.
This step will help ensure the roots send nutrients to the healthy stems you want to grow. It will also allow the new leaves to get access to the sun without the shade of any dead leaves.
2. Plant Geraniums Back in the Soil
The root ball will likely be about 1 to 3 inches deep. This makes it extremely easy to plant.
To plant it, simply make a small hole in the ground.
Nestle the plant in the soil. Cover roots and pat soil down, so the plant stands upright and stable.
3. Soak Flower Garden or Pot with Water
It is critical to soak the soil around any new planting. This adjusts the soil around the roots. It gets rid of any air pockets that may impede the plant getting the nutrients it needs.
In the case of the overwintered geraniums, this will be the first drink of water in many months. It will readily use it and start to plump up and grow.
For the first three to four weeks, keep the soil moist. After the plant has bedded in and is getting those leaves, you can return to your normal geranium care.
Pairing Geraniums with Other Plants for Non-Stop Flower Display
Consider other early blooming plants to pair with your geraniums to extend the flower impact of your garden.
And once the geraniums are overwintering and “sleeping” in your garage/basement/cave/root cellar/closet, make sure there is winter display to enjoy for the interim months.
What’s Next?
Pair your geraniums with other plants using 3-point Flower Garden Design Principles. Bulbs are an especially good combination for geraniums, so explore planting Bulbs with Geraniums to choose the right flowers for you.
As winter approaches, overwinter your geraniums successfully in 15-minutes. Use my tips and tricks from the article or video tutorial.
SUBSCRIBE to Ready and Thriving YouTube channel to be inspired by more sustainable garden design ideas in your YouTube feed. And bookmark Ready and Thriving, come back often and be inspired by ideas to help you thrive every day.
