In Bremerton, the price is 5/$3.00 or $.60. I buy them often and have great luck. In fact, 50 of the 60 I planted last year are now sitting in my family room growing nicely. They were in the garage until several weeks ago. One is even blooming!

Thanks Markey,

Only goes to show, I've been waiting too long to start looking at annuals (late April) and have apparently missed all this great pricing. I was so excited at the 99 cents, it never occured to me that it would go lower. Guess I'll reconsider and go buy more. Happy Spring!

I always buy my geranium and fuchsia starts at Freddy's as soon as they come out so I can get the best selection. I don't like picked over stuff or those that have been in the starter pots too long. I plant them in the planters and hanging baskets as soon as I get them, then leave them in an unheated cold frame until it warms up enough outside. I've always had good luck with them.

The big Fred Geranium and Fuchsia Starts Hoo-Haw is this coming Saturday in the Seattle area. If you bring in your (or buy their) pots, they'll plant the starts for you using decent (although not organic, as I recall) potting soil. It is quite a good deal and attracts HUGE crowds. If you go, go as early as possible. I hate standing in line so usually give the plant-for-free deal a pass, but have bought the starts for a number of years now and baby them for a couple of weeks until the weather warms up.

Here's hoping for some of that "warmer than usual" April weather the Almanc predicted!

Rain

Are the geraniums seed-grown or cutting-grown? I don't know if this still applies, but in past years I used to read that cutting-grown geraniums, from named cultivars, are superior bloomers to seed-grown plants...and therefor more expensive. Can anyone address that?

As for fuchsias, for anyone living within driving distance of Covington, WA, I'd sure recommend going to Earthworks Fuchsias and shopping thru their extensive offering of rooted cuttings...as in hundreds of named cultivars. My last visit was a year ago & prices were $.80 apiece.

I am going to try to go this week - I ususally go in March because the selection gets a bit thinner by this time of year, even tho they propagate steadily. My biggest challenge is trying to limit the number of cultivars I buy.

Hummingbird lovers...I particularly recommend 'Marinka' for a hanging basket and 'Mary' for an upright (my hummers prefer 'Mary' over the more common 'Gartenmeister').

Here is a link that might be useful: Earthworks Fucshia Nursery

I don't care for geraniums but I buy the cheap fuchsias every year. I have no patience to try to keep them over year to year so I start over annually.