Geraniums—Good Old Reliables

Years ago I was poking around in a neglected corner of our yard and came upon a blooming geranium plant. Nobody had watered or fed or tended to it in decades. I think it may have been planted by a very long time ago.

As geraniums go, it wasn’t much to look at. The flowers were plain old-fashioned pinkish red, and smaller than the newer, showier geranium flowers. But it had survived by itself for decades, through thick and thin.

Geraniums in general are a good bet around here. Earwigs and snails don’t eat them. Jackrabbits don’t eat them. Deer walk by them without interest (except that one time when one or more deer came early in the morning and walked right up to my dining room window boxes and munched my geraniums down to stubs).

But geraniums are vulnerable to a hard freeze. I had some gorgeous big white geraniums in half-barrel pots at the focal point of our yard. Each year they grew more amazing, impervious to bugs, animals, or frost. My mom did a painting of them.

Then we had a hard freeze and they dropped dead.

I was devastated. For a long time I didn’t buy any more geraniums. When something in my garden dies, I don’t replace it with the same thing. I want the plants that just keep on keeping on.

That’s why I was interested when I found the “Elsie Taaffe” geranium that had been growing without care for many many years. Hmmm. A true survivor. I broke off a slip of it and stuck the slip in the ground by some oregano that never gets watered. It grew. It became a mass of leaves and small flowers.

I keep breaking off slips and sticking them in the ground anywhere I want a little color. I have a couple in the middle of my tended flower bed, and dozens scattered along the driveway and other places that never get watered. They just keep on keeping on.

Occasionally now I will see a fancier geranium in the nursery and bring it home and give it a chance. So far, none have dropped dead.  Any kind of geranium does well here, at least until a hard freeze.

I recommend you try some geraniums, and don’t overlook the plain ones.

About This Column: Each week Pam Walatka will explore sustainable life in Los Altos Hills. Contact Pam at pamwalatka@yahoo.com or see Pam Portugal Walakta Writings on Facebook.