Geranium Calliope 'Big Red'

Geraniums always provide a colourful show in your garden, whether in beds, baskets, pots or window boxes.  These large double-flowered blooms are bold red and stand out dramaticaslly against the rounded, green foliage and thrive in hot, dry conditions.  The mounded semi-traling habit makes it extremely attractive for display in either containers or garden beds.

 

 Full / Part Sun

50cm W x 45cm H
Pot Suitable
Hanging Baskets
Flowers from Spring to Autumn
Drought tolerant once established
Other colours available in the series are Big Splash, Big Burgundy, Big Rose and Big Pink 
Syngenta nursery
Plant in well drained soil, water well until established
Remove spent flower heads to encourage repear flushes
Liquid fertilise fortnightly during the flowering season
Prune in late Autum to control shape 

Info and Hints from the net.
 

Pruning

The best time to prune geraniums is in late Autumn.  Prune the geranium plant back by 1/3^rd to one ½ focusing on stems that are woody or leggy.

Pinching out Geraniums

Pinching geraniums is a type of geranium pruning that forces the plant to grow more compact and bushy.  Pinching can be done on new bedding geranium plans that you have just bought.  Geranium pinching starts in spring.

Once a stem on a geranium plant has gotten to be a few inches, using a sharp pair of scissors, or even your fingers, snip or pinch ¼” to ½” off the end of the stem.  Repeat on all the stems.  This will force the geranium to grow two new stems off the original and this is what created the bushier fuller plant.  You can continue pinching geraniums all through spring, if you would like. 

Pruning geraniums is easy and makes your geranium look healthier.

Propagating

Geraniums are very easy to propogate.  Place cuttings in a jar of water until they root and then plant them out.  However, if you’re looking for the newest and best varieties, such as the Geranium Calliope Big Red and Big Pink range the best place to find them is at your garden centre.

UIndividual geranium plants produce new flower clusters every three weeks when older blooms are snipped off.  Trailing varieties are great for containers.

Excessive rain can cause geraniums to rot.