My mother does this every year.

I think she experiemented quite a bit before she figured it out.

In zone 4, she puts them in a cellar space and forgets about them completely all winter.

About March 1, she puts them in a sunny window and begins watering them.

They bloom around the same time the flower stands open.

Trick is to have the space.

There are 3 ways to overwinter zonal geraniums. One is the way regattagirl mentioned. Another is the bare root method. Remove any flower heads, dig out the plant and shake the dirt off of it. Take a brown paper bag and punch holes in it and put in you geraniums root side up, then hang from a hook or nail. For both these methods you need a cool, dry, dark place like a root cellar.

These never worked for me because I have a heated basement, so I grow a few plants all winter in a sunny widowsill and take cuttings in the spring

I put my ivy geranium in a south facing window upstairs.Not much heat there,& altho we have long dreary winters,it does fine till spring.Don't water till it's quite dry, don't feed it.I use this method for other types of geranium too. My mother did this with a lot of her plants. It's fun just to experiment. Good luck !

Bjames,

I over winter mine the same way that carole6 does.
Really worth overwintering.

{{gwi:824660}}

I cut mine back by 2/3 and sit them in our dark, unheated basement(still potted up), and water them lightly once a month.Then in April I take them outside, cut back the new lanky growth and water. I have done this the past 2 winters, and it has worked beautifully.

Bjames, I'm also in Zone 6 and I am always looking for ways to save in the garden. When overwintering my geraniums, I just bring them in as a house plant. They will thrive in a very sunny window. My Windows face West.

Although, when indoors, they become quite leggy, so I prune often, and use the debris as cuttings and I get new plants =)

Hello,

I've had a lot of success with my geraniums by storing them in the garage over the winter. No water, small amount of light (it's a north facing garage with windows) and in the spring after the last frost, I popped them out doors, trim off any leggy growth, give them a shot of water with a weak fertilizer and let spring rains give them a boost. Once new growth begins, they get regular water, food and sunshine on my back porch. These geraniums have been blooming for me for over 8 years.

Good luck.

hi. Can I overwinter geraniums in a plastic mini greenhouse in eastern England? If not then could anyone suggest the best way. Thanks.

darlene87:

yep in your climate that would amount to putting them in a cold cellar--very ingenious

Mumofabbie:
No don't put them in a greenhouse. On sunny days even in winter it can get quite warm in the greenhouse and then get quite cold at night. this swing in temperatures would kill the plants. What you want is someplace that will keep the plants just above freezing and in a dormant state. Check out the ways that people in zone 7 do theirs. Their winter temperatures are similar to yours.