ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 17, 1996 TAG: 9611190039
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Dear John
SOURCE: JOHN ARBOGAST
In this part of Virginia, this is the time of year that folks with an interest and some background in horticulture can enroll in extensive horticulture training conducted locally that is the first part of becoming an Extension volunteer known as a Master Gardener.
Master Gardeners use their knowledge and training to help in a number of ways ranging from instructing 4-H members in plant projects to answering consumer horticulture phone questions.
The 1997 Master Gardener classes will be conducted in the Roanoke Valley Jan. 21-March 27, 1-4 p.m. Registration fee, which will include a Master Gardener handbook and other related items, is $95. Call the Roanoke County Extension Office at (540) 772-7524.
In Floyd, Giles, Montgomery and Pulaski counties, write to the Montgomery Extension Office, P.O. Box 90, Christiansburg; and in Franklin County, write to Margaret Buford, Volunteer MG Coordinator, 605 Parkview Drive, Rocky Mount.
Q: I have heard that geraniums can be pulled out of their pots or from the flower box and stored for the winter in the unheated basement. Is this true? How does one do this successfully? Please explain this method and tell me what is the best way to keep geraniums from year to year.
A: What you probably heard is an old way of keeping geraniums over the winter that worked when folks had a damp, relatively dark, chilly but frostproof root cellar. Geranium plants with some of the soil shaken off their roots could be hung from the ceiling or supports with soft string or pieces of cloth to stay in a dormant condition from early fall until spring.
Because most of us don't have a root cellar these days, the method that did work then is out of the question now. Geraniums can make great indoor flowering plants for the winter if you have sunny window space in heated rooms. It is one plant that will still make flowers in the shorter days of fall and winter. This is my preferred recommendation. Care of indoor flowering geraniums during the winter should include watering when the soil feels almost dry and fertilizing with a liquid flowering plant solution every four weeks.
Other methods for successfully continuing favorite geraniums from year to year are:
* Take tip cuttings about 3 to 5 inches long for rooting while the geranium plant is still growing vigorously; note that a geranium can be cut back to force growth of new tips for cuttings.
* Cut back rather severely geraniums that are already in pots or have been lifted from a flower bed and potted and place them in a cool, lighted spot, where they should be watered infrequently. The risk with this is overwatering, which will cause rot.
Send short questions about your lawn, garden, plants or insects to Dear John, c/o The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491. We need your mail, but this column can't reply to all letters. Those of wide appeal will be answered during the weeks that the subject is timely. Personal replies cannot be given. Please don't send stamps, stamped envelopes, samples, or pictures.
Gardener's checklist
Job for the third week of November: Learn the best time of year to do work in the home landscape like pruning, weed control, fertilizing and planting so you can be kind to our natural environment as well as manage your landscape. The Roanoke Extension Office is offering a program, "Establishing an Annual Landscape Management Calendar," on Wednesday, 7-8 p.m., in the Training Theater on the first floor of the Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Ave. S.W., Roanoke. Registration is required by calling this Extension Office at (540) 857-7915 by Tuesday.
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