by Lois Scott, Master Gardener

At this time of year that nasty five letter word “frost” starts making an appearance in the weather forecast.  Our hardy perennials will manage just fine with freezing temperatures but some of your plants may be tender perennials that won’t survive winter.  As a reminder, a perennial is a plant that will live for more than two years.  This can include bulbs like begonias and dahlias, rosemary, and geraniums just to name a few.  Annuals complete their life cycle in one year and biennials in two.  Tender perennials can give us years of beauty if we treat them well. 

Pelargoniums, commonly called geraniums (which are different from hardy Geraniums/Cranesbill) are a tender perennial in our climate but they are easily wintered over using one or all of three different methods.  You can take a stem cutting, overwinter as a potted plant, or overwinter as a bare-root plant. This link gives clear instructions for all three methods. 

Personally, I will be taking a stem cutting from a geranium and a Dorotheanthus bellidiformis ‘Mesbicla’, commonly known as Mezoo Trailing Red, another tender perennial.  Cuttings produce a plant identical to the parent, avoids any difficulty with starting from seed and will frequently produce a plant that matures faster and flowers sooner than a plant grown from seed. 

I will be using an 8-10 cm stem that includes a few leaves.  Make sure your cutting contains as much water as possible by watering your plant the day before and taking your cutting before the heat of the day reduces water content.  Plants lose most of their moisture through leaves so I will remove half to a third of the leaves. Ideally, process the cutting right away or place it in water. 

Using clean pots and tools, and soilless potting mix or vermiculite is important to reduce the chance of disease killing your cuttings.  Once your pot is ready, secure the cutting by placing it into the medium far enough that the cutting can support itself.  Put your pot in a closed plastic bag and place it in a warm, bright spot but not in direct sun.  The plastic bag should keep the plant’s environment humid enough to prevent water loss in the cutting and reduce the need for any further watering.  Too much moisture and the cutting will rot.  More info here.

In a few weeks you should be rewarded with good root growth on your cutting which you can then repot and grow on for use in the garden next year.