It's not an annual. It ls a fancy leaf geranium, Pelargonium 'Vancouver Centennial'.

It can come inside in winter and makes a reasonable house plant if you have a sunny windowsill. Also, being a Pelargonium, it is easy to propagate.

That's a very pretty leafed geranium, has the look of a heuchera.

Thanks guys and gals. (This geranium is definitely an annual in my neck of the woods.)

Shall we rehearse the meaning of annual and perennial again....? The plant is a true perennial. It can’t be anything else. It just doesn’t like cold winters. If you take it indoors you can keep it for years. You can’t do that with a true annual.

Shall we rehearse the meaning of annual and perennial again

Yikes.

(What I thought I implied was that geranium Vancouver Centennial behaves like an annual in the most important way for me....it will for sure perish come November...that's all)

Rouge, you could ship it to me...I'll save it *lol* :)
Actually, the reading is odd for a geranium...heavy feeder..odd.

you could ship it to me

I tried to message you as it is in the mail as we speak! (Although the address I used might be a bit sketchy i.e. I wrote on the package @dbarron Oklahoma)

I have a feeling that might get marked 'return to sender' :) I do appreciate you posting it though..I had no idea such a beast existed.

I bet the much vaunted USPS will stop at nothing to track you down.

I overwintered a Pleaegonium for the first time this past winter. I should’ve pruned it better, but it has buds opening right now. I’d try bringing it inside this winter if I had a fancy one like that!

Re: Annuals vs perennials: We on this board know the technicalities, but the fact of the matter is that the cold weather climate vernacular for tender perennials is annuals.

If I walked into a nursery over here and asked them for perennial geraniums, they would point me outside; annual geraniums and I would get pointed to the greenhouse; tender perennial geraniums and no one would have any idea what I was talking about unless they were educated on such things (not likely), and even then I'd get a funny look or a what a weirdo chuckle before being pointed toward the greenhouse.

Re: Overwintering annual geraniums: Can be kept potted indoors or stored dormant in a cool, dark place over winter.

Overwintering annual geraniums

Yup. Been there done that.

^^ Did it work? Some years I fare better than others going the dormant route; this year I kept a mother plant in the windowsill for cuttings just in case (hard to find cultivar), but all the dormant roots survived and are doing quite well outside. The mother is actually the one looking worse for wear -- she got a little too big and a bad bout of winds broke off some branches. Eh, she'll be fine, should recover fairly quickly. :0)

ETA: Outside meaning planted out in May; roots were potted up and grown under lights indoors in early spring.

I brought the whole pot indoors (70°F) and put it near the grown lights. I read that I should have pruned it back when I brought it inside, but that was a few months after the fact. My mom puts hers in the cellar (55°F or so) under much more powerful growlights without pruning and they love it. Here’s mine. Don’t know if I should prune it now.

If you want it to be smaller, you can prune it. It looks very well proportioned to the pot, IMVHO.

"tender perennial geraniums and no one would have any idea what I was talking about unless they were educated on such things"

And I would counter that if you asked for them by name - Pelargoniums - you would very likely get a different answer or response :-) While members of the Geraniaceae, they are not geraniums except by common name.

These sorts of half hardy or frost sensitive perennials are also often referred to by the amalgamated moniker of "temperennials" and are some of the easiest to overwinter and can be very long lived. Also extremely easy to strike from cuttings to accumulate new plants for following seasons.

So pretty, Rogue!

I have a couple with plain leaves in this little spot where I put snips to propagate,

It is a geranium. Blooms are similar to an ivy geranium.

The pot with this geranium is in a "wild west" area of the garden. Here it is today:

Looks great!

Beautiful!!!

:)

Dee

Today:

A plant that completes it's life cycle (from germination to producing seed) within a single growing season, then dies, is an annual. Plants capable, and 'capable' should be seen as a key word, of living through more than 2 growing seasons/2 years is a perennial, no matter what geographical location it's grown in or what the weather is like where it's grown. The proper term for a plant capable of living longer than 2 growing seasons/ 2 years but is not able to tolerate the cold temperatures where it is planted is 'tender perennial'. Perennials do not become annuals simply because they cannot tolerate the cold temperatures which occur where they are planted any more than a snake becomes a eel when it enters the water. It is appropriate to say "This plant is a perennial but we treat it as an annual here" but it's not appropriate to say 'this plant [a perennial] is an annual here .....' because in no way does it fit the description of an annual.

.... and don't say, "Well, you know what I meant!" When we call a perennial an annual it's a microaggression against all perennials. Do it often enough and there is a high likelihood there will be an insurrection and we'll all end up living without things like tequila, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, caviar, green peppers, coffee, (coffee grows on trees and trees are perennials, too), ...... and perhaps worst of all chocolate. Some might think this is not a big deal, but if the perennials ever go on strike like the NY Times, we're toast! No. Wait. Toast is from wheat and wheat is an annual ....... but we couldn't have cinnamon toast!

.... and I was just kidding about the caviar - just seeing if you're paying attention.

Al

UPDATE (May 2023):

Knowing if a plant is truly an annual or not prevents wasting one's time trying to save a true annual by brining it inside for winter.

Last Fall I "brown bagged: this same Vancouver geranium as I have done in the past with other geraniums and I have had. I forgot about it until later than I would have liked but It has now been up in the light for closing in on a month after being potted up.

Here it is today:

Very little of the gorgeous colouring it is known for but I would imagine that once it is outdoors and in more sun it will develop as expected.

That looks great!! And much bigger than the size I usually see those plants in. I believe it will put on a great show this year. I've had really good results keeping Pelargoniums over winter the past few years too. One that was right by a window started blooming not long after the first of the year. IDK if that's possible @ your latitude but if it sounds interesting could be worth a try in addition to the dry method that also looks like it works well too.

And now it is, as it was:

For some reason, your pics are "broken."

??

Now they are working. This site must have gremlins. Adorable planters!! :)

Same plant July 1 2024

That looks great! What an awesome update : ) Your Hostas look fantastic too. Those can't grow here, they die in the heat.

This plant has been with me since 2021 or 22.