I just bought one of these!! I love it... I would like to know more about caring for this plant as well.

{{gwi:822671}}

It really depends where you live in California. In hot interior areas, they tend to be quiescent in summer. Along they coast they have repeated flushes of bloom. Your zone 9 doesn't tell me much, you could be in Crescent City or Coachella - vastly different climates.

Ryan

I'm along the coast in S.Calif ,and i do have repeated blooms.Then when they are totally finished blooming,i just cut them back and they come back every year.

I'm also one of those people,who when they go to yard sales,if i see a color i don't have,i'll ask for a cutting,same if i'm just out walking.You can't go wrong with geraniums.

I now have a question.I bought a geranium maderense or something like that,i'm not sure of the care of it,as far as what to do when it finishes blooming.I know it will come back,but am i supposed to cut that big stalk off where the flowers once were.This is totally different than all my other geraniums.
TIA
Kathi

Kathi,

Geranium maderense is a biennial to short lived perennial. It usually dies after blooming, but it can survive a few years. San Marcos Growers recommends cutting off the inflorescence after it collapses and collect the seeds. These germinate easily.

Ryan

This is my first try with Martha. I planted her out in my border garden about two weeks ago. So far, she is looking wonderful! However, I am told that she will not do well in our hot, humid Missouri summers...Completely contradictory to the "garden information" that came with her when I bought her at Lowes. Here's what it says; "Martha Washington, Regal Geranium. The garden "WOW" factor! She's more than just a pretty face. CARE - Ms. Washington prefers to bathe in the sunshine (full sun) and be served fresh water when she is thirsty (water when soil is dry). She's NOT delicate and shines center stage in your garden (beautiful color accent plant)." That's it! Nothing about what I have since learned...and that is she doesn't do well in "hot" climates. No info on how tall she grows or her spread. We'll see what happens by keeping her well watered and fertilized. If she makes it through the summer, I'll dig and pot her up for the winter.

Here's a link that'll give some info on the care and overwintering of the regal geranium. Hope this helps.

Kat

Here is a link that might be useful: Regal Geranium

I just jumped onto this thread. I have a regal that I have had for about 4 years. Every late winter and into spring I feed the heck out of her with 15-30-15. She puts on a glorious show and then as soon as the summer comes she shuts down completely loses all her lower leaves and starts to look very rangy, at which point she is relegated to the back of the potted collection to rest. Yes, I do still feed her but not so much, probably every other week and I cut her way back, at the end of the summer, down to about 10inches or so on each stem. She spends the cool fall outside but inside as soon as a frost threatens. Good luck. Kat (also)

I live in the interior of So.Cal. & have grown regals for many years. My plants grow in full sun. If planted in the ground they grow from 1 to 4 ft tall. They need to be staked if too tall. The spread depends on how much room is available for them to grow. I cut mine back every yr(thru Dec) to have upright & more branches for more blooms. Any balanced plant food will do. Some die after 2-3 yrs so start new ones from small cuttings & enjoy!!!

I have some Regals that survived the Winter in my kitchen. Three blossoms! So what do I do with them? Should I cut them back before I acclimate them to the outside? Should I put them in my side yard (about 6 hours of sun)? My backyard gets about 8-10 hours of afternoon sun, so I think that is too hot for them.

Hi, I started on Martha Washington's last year, I live in long island NY, so the weather is sometimes hot, sometimes mild and others cold. I bought 9 plants, varies colors, they did great in my front yard but I want to say sometime in the summer they stopped blooming, thought that I was doing something wrong, I was going to dig them out and store them for the winter but was not sure how too. The temps. here still is too cold to leave them outside so I keep them in the garage and take them out for a few hours during the day. Once the weather gets better I would like to plant them in my backyard this year but not sure how they will do, I have some clay spots of dirt, should I buy more dirt, or should I leave then in pots and dig them in? I wanted to remove them from the pots they are in now and put them in bigger ones so that once it is time to store them it would be easier to do so, is that a good idea? Any amount of care info would be most helpful. I have 24 of them this year. I keep reading to cut the and re plant and grow new ones, I didn't think that was possible the do so?

Hi, I started on Martha Washington's last year, I live in long island NY, so the weather is sometimes hot, sometimes mild and others cold. I bought 9 plants, varies colors, they did great in my front yard but I want to say sometime in the summer they stopped blooming, thought that I was doing something wrong, I was going to dig them out and store them for the winter but was not sure how too. The temps. here still is too cold to leave them outside so I keep them in the garage and take them out for a few hours during the day. Once the weather gets better I would like to plant them in my backyard this year but not sure how they will do, I have some clay spots of dirt, should I buy more dirt, or should I leave then in pots and dig them in? I wanted to remove them from the pots they are in now and put them in bigger ones so that once it is time to store them it would be easier to do so, is that a good idea? Any amount of care info would be most helpful. I have 24 of them this year. I keep reading to cut the and re plant and grow new ones, I didn't think that was possible the do so?

My Martha Washington Geraniums are blooming beautifully but the edges of the leafs are turning brown. Over watering or overfeeding or what?

I've had my Martha Wa. Longshot, for about a month and she is doing well, still blooming, I Live in Oregon, and was wondering what zone is 9b to 11, I've been looking for links all over, I was wondering if I could plant her in the yard, and how big of pot does she need if I decide to keep her in one.

I live in Saskatchewan, Canada and I also have Marthas that quit blooming. What can I do they were beautiful when I bought them? Our summer is warm.

These flowers can be tricky to bloom, unless you provide them the ideal climate. To allow them to flower, you must keep them at a specific night time temperature for several weeks. Here's a guide on how to encourage blooming. Geranium Guide

Avoid overfertilizing as it will produce more vegetative growth and less flowers. (esp fertilizers heavier in nitrogen and lower in fruiting and flowering feed) They need long sunny days to stay in bloom. They usually flower 4-6 weeks and then go out of bloom. There are suggestions on the internet on how to preserve them, etc.