Geraniums

 I think you either love 'em or hate 'em or could possibly be indifferent, I suppose.  I fall into the love category. 

I don't think there is a happier flower out there. Sure, we all have our opinions, but when I walk or drive past a window box planted with geraniums I smile.  Can't help it. 

I have a friend who doesn't like them at all, she calls them 'cemetery plants' because most cemetery pots are filled with them, they're 'common, ' she says.  And with good reason.  Geraniums are so forgiving.  They don't mind if you water them or not, they don't mind if it's cool or hot, they don't mind if they live in sun or shade.  We live across the street from a cemetery and when I walk through I dead head the planters. 

Years ago I worked at a nursery for one season and learned a lot.  One of the tips I learned was how to propagate a geranium.  The ones they sold were all from cuttings, not seeds, and they did it themselves.  They said you really only need one good geranium plant because you can keep taking cuttings and replant and get a good, healthy plant.  Well, I don't have that kind of patience nor space but I have done that often on a small scale.  Besides, I need just way too many of them.  

Right now I have this on the counter in the kitchen - here getting a breath of fresh air for a few hours.  

While they come in so many different colors, and I sometimes give in to buying something different,

my go-to color is the caliope red.  It's an intense bright red with no hints of 'geranium red orange'

it's my favorite because it's so bright.

Next week my car will look like this again, filled with geraniums and just a couple of little bits for small pots around my reading space on the porch.