Pretty Posies

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers. ~Claude Monet, French Impressionist painter

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I think Monet was onto something.

Perhaps all creative types thrive when surrounded by Nature’s beauty, whether it’s trees and flowers or seas and mountains.

For Central Illinois this year, Fall has been a bust. Precious little in the way of color and a sudden cold snap that promises to slap frost on the pumpkin before it’s time.

Usually our Falls are delightful: pleasant temperatures in the 60s by day, sunny cloudless skies, and low humidity.

Must be global warming.

Anyway, since winter’s chill is right around the corner, and I haven’t tired of watching these two geraniums bloom, I’ve decided to bring them indoors and keep them around longer.

Don’t laugh.

We tend to think of geraniums as annuals, but master gardeners call them tender perennials and say they can be overwintered inside with the proper light, water, and feeding.

See the fuchsia plant on the left above? Mostly through beginner’s luck, I managed to keep it alive last winter. When Spring arrived, I repotted it and hung it outside, right next to its new pink cousin.

‘Pink’ has offered a profusion of blooms, and I’d like to overwinter it, too.

To be successful, experts advise:

Starting with healthy plants. (Check)
Caring for them as houseplants — bright southern exposure, moderate 60- to 70-degree temperature. (Check)
Watering and fertiliing as needed. (Check)

Seems like all I need to do now is baby them a bit!

Of course there are other methods pf overwintering — rooting a cutting or letting the plant go dormant in a cool, dark place and drying up.

But if I can keep these beauties thriving in the dark dreary days of winter, they’ll brighten my living space immensely. Don’t you agree?