Pelargonium Seeds

I noticed the other day that because I had stopped deadheading some Pelargoniums, some of them were producing seeds.

I didn’t know that the seeds would have little feathery tails on them. The better to let the wind send them away from the mother plant so they can presumably germinate someplace far away where they have more room to grow.

However, in my climate, those seeds don’t stand a chance of germinating because it is much too cold for them.

But if I collect them…

And so I did. I collected a bunch of them and now I expect you have some questions.

1. Will they produce plants just like the mother plants? I have no idea. I’m guessing the pelargoniums I have are hybrids, so the seedlings won’t be exactly like the mama plant. What they will look like is anyone’s guess.
2. How will you sow them? A most excellent question. I looked up the requirements and one book I have, Park’s Success with Seeds by Ann Reilly (1978), said that the seeds need to be scarified, but are usually shipped already scarified.
3. How does one scarify seed? You open the envelope you are storing them in real quick like and say “Boo!” and that usually scares them enough.
4. How does one really scarify seed? Pardon my attempt at humor. It is October, after all. The season of scary. Actually, you just need to scuff up that seed coat or soften it somehow to make it easier for that little cotyledon to break through. I think for these pelargonium seeds, I’ll probably soak them before I sow them.
5. Can you winter-sow pelargoniums? I don’t know! They don’t really need cold treatment to germinate and most of the sources I checked said to keep them in a heated greenhouse. So I’m going to just keep them in the sunroom, though if I have enough seeds, and I think I do, I might try winter-sowing to see what happens.
6. How long will it take for these seedlings to grow to flowering size? My goodness, these questions are getting wearisome! I don’t really know, but hope it is one season because they aren’t hardy here so if they need longer, then that means I’ll have to bring them inside for the winter.
7. But what will you do with your other pelargoniums, the ones you have now? Oh goodness, I’m going to let them go a tiny bit dry, then cut them back, and put them in the garage to survive until spring when I’ll take them outside again. Three out of four pelargoniums survived me doing that last year.
8. Why do you call them pelargoniums and not geraniums? Well, I mostly certainly could call them geraniums because most people do, but because I know what “true” geraniums are, I like to call these pelargoniums.
9. Do you like pelargoniums? I do like them, especially those with variegated leaves. I really should get more of them, but then it becomes a collection and they don’t always survive in the garage in the winter, so I’d hate to lose one of the collection, so I’ll just stick to the six or so that I have now, please any seedlings that I manage to grow for next year.
10. Do you have any of the scented pelargonium-geraniums? I do not! I’m afraid if I started getting some, where would it end? However, I have been reading some books that have recipes for rose geranium cake, which requires you to have a rose geranium (pelargonium). Maybe I’ll get just one rose geranium. And stop with just that one. Just that one.

And that’s what I know about my pelargonium seeds. If anyone has successfully sown seeds for pelargoniums and has some tips to share, let me know.