In This Light And On This Evening

And now I'm pleased to say the cycle has completed. Here are photos of my winter survivors alongside some of my other more exotic plants. Spectacular blooms, fantastic foliage and the anticipation of harvesting so so many seeds to go again.

The Big Exit

Finally after a winter in the greenhouse it's time for repotting and placing outside. Overall I got about 12 plants and I've already given some to friends and colleagues who in the main seem to be just as intrigued about the plant as I was when I first saw it.

This one below is going back into the spot occupied by the original plant and the others are going to form a feature in a new area of the garden. I've also bought some more "bargain" geraniums of different varieties but keeping to the theme of larger plants so I will start the whole cycle again in the Summer.

Push your head towards the air

For my first test I collected the seeds and separated them from their "springs" - anyone who knows what they're really called please comment!

I placed them on top of a 50:50 mix of seed compost and multipurpose one seed per cell and kept them moist.

After one month 25% have germinated and I've transplanted them to small pots. A further 25% look as though they are beginning to germinate so I'll monitor these throughout the last week of July

Open Up

Nearly all of those glorious blooms have now perished to seed heads and I've been collecting.

Each flower ultimately produces a seed head which releases 5 seeds which are catapulted onto the ground. Now I understand that they will germinate well where they fall so I'm going to try my first set of seeds on the surface of a seed tray bed.

Here's five snaps of the transition.

An End has a Start

Welcome to the first post of my blog. Over the last few years I have been battling against brambles and other weeds to reclaim a semi shaded area of the house I moved into 6 years ago. It's now become home to some of my more interesting plants as I strive to learn more about gardening mainly through a process called trial and error!!!!!

My geranium maderense in flower mid April 2011

Last year I bought a small geranium maderense, (also known as madeiran cranesbill - I believe) for £2 in the bargain - not in the best condition :(  section of a local garden centre here in the Channel Islands. I have been amazed and delighted with it's growth, the wonderful architecture of its foilage and the stunning floral display that it has rewarded me with. And that's in spite of being outside throughout last winter!

In bloom mid April 2011

It has now lost its flowers and the many heads are at different stages of seed production.

This I thought is an ideal time to keep a record of my attempts to cultivate those seeds to provide a new set of stunning plants.
 
I know it can be propagated from cuttings but my main interest in plants has always been to see what I can succesfully nurture from seed.