Desert Dwellers – There is an abundance of geraniums in the nurseries now. Geraniums are absolutely beautiful many months of our year in the desert. They can take our full winter sun and morning sun in the spring and fall. However, in the summer, geraniums should only receive more than a couple hours of very early morning sun. It is best if they have an eastern exposure moving into shade by 9am.
We also expect our geraniums to ‘brown out’ by late July and August. When this happens, cut them back to their lowest point and either shade them or plant some flowers around them to provide a natural shade. You will be rewarded by having fresh wonderful plants in the early fall. Be sure to let them dry somewhat between waterings as they don’t like their feet constantly wet!!
Marylee is the Desert’s Potted Garden Expert. Email her with comments and questions at potteddesert@gmail.com.
This article appears in Apr 11-17, 2013.
Thanks, Marylee, for the good advice for this all-too-frequently overlooked, beautiful flower – the Martha Washington variety, especially.
Another rule I’ve used is that geraniums, more or less, like the same temperatures and intensity of sunlight that most rational humans do.
I do have some pots on the scorching west side of my home, though. But they do well there, because they are shaded by mesquite.
Also, I winter over severely cut-back pots inside my house in front of an east-facing window, because temps at my elevation are too cold for them to survive outdoors. It’s delightful to watch them stir and grow as the sun makes its way north to fully light the window. By mid-March, some of them burst into bloom.
I do have a question: do you use fertilizer? If so, how often?
Finally, they are so easy to propagate that it’s been years since I’ve bought new ones.
(How about a piece on naturalizing Amaryllis? I’ve had some success, but not as much as I’d hoped.)
I used to live in Tucson – and miss it very much.