Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
marricgardens

Brocade leaf geranium

marricgardens
13 years ago

Two years ago I bought one of these called 'Indian Dunes'. I liked the yellow foliage. At the time I bought it it wan't flowering but I was told the flower was the same as the regular geraniums. Well, it's not. It is more like those on scented geraniums, still pretty tho. I have since taken cuttings from it and they have been quite a surprise. The leaves on these new plants are about twice as big as the ones on the parent plan. Do you think the parent plant was treated with a growth retardant? This plant came from Oglevee Genetics and was probably grown for the foliage and not the flowers because it doesn't flower as often as my black leafed geraniums. Anyone else grow any of these? Marg

Comments (11)

  • luckygal
    13 years ago

    Wouldn't surprise me if the parent plant was treated. Is it a patented plant that one is not supposed to propagate?

    I will have to watch for 'Indian Dunes' as I'm getting more into foliage plants. I have had 'Vancouver Centennial' a couple of times but never took cuttings. The flowers are insignificant, it's grown for the foliage.

  • north53 Z2b MB
    13 years ago

    I have had Vancouver Centennial for years and I love it.

  • marricgardens
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    luckygal: it is patented, had to look on the tag for that bit of info. It was new out when I bought it. I just can't get over the size of the leaves of the new cuttings! When I bought it it was growing upright like a regular geranium. Since starting new cuttings, I've noticed it likes to sprawl and hang over the edges of the pot.

    north53: I have seen Vancouver Centennial and think its very pretty. I'll have to look for it.

  • bugbite
    10 years ago

    Thought that the patented plants can be propagated for your on personal use but not for distribution.
    Just got 10 beautiful brocade geraniums which Lowe's marked down from $3 to .50. I'll admit I was a little disappointed when I found out that they won't bloom like the rest of my geraniums. Just put them in the ground today.
    Bob

  • north53 Z2b MB
    10 years ago

    Ack Bob,
    Do you realize we're still dealing with winter here? Not fair to talk about planting in the ground, lol.
    I will probably bring my geraniums out of storage soon. Then I'll know if I still have Vancouver Centennial.

  • bugbite
    10 years ago

    WOW, 1 b!
    How do you store them?
    Bob

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    10 years ago

    I overwinter my geraniums in a west-facing window - minimal watering all winter until late March or early April. Then I trim them back and put them outside in late May or June. Some of them are quite a few years old.

  • kioni
    10 years ago

    I'm no expert on geraniums (or anything else for that matter!)

    Could it be the light these plants are receiving? I have a duckfoot ivy (different plant being used for comparison). Description on Internet says leaves stay well below one inch in size. I notice in too much sun the new leaves grow smaller & smaller (1/4 inch!) and are packed so close together that it doesn't appear as an ivy form anymore, more like a little bush. Pull away from window (like 15 feet away, bright but no sun) and leaves become larger in size (over that one inch size) and nodes lengthen and the ivy looks good again, given time.

    Other idea - could this be how a sport develops? Especially considering the fact that it trails!

    That growth hormone is very commonly used by greenhouses - they can grow a plant to bloom size but with less mass, so can stuff more plants on a shelf. I don't know how long that hormone stays in the plant to keep it compact, you would think it would be meant to be short term so that by the end of summer you'd have seen more normal sized leaves.

    Isn't BIGGER better!?

  • bugbite
    10 years ago

    Marcia,
    A friend of mine from Mass. takes them up, puts them in a paper bag in the basement until it is time to plant in the spring. You actually keep them in the ground like I do and they go through a low growth period. But I do that in the summer down here. We are kinda flipped. I let mine drop down in the summer; they decline and I don't pay much attention to them. Then I dig them up in the fall refresh the soil and plant them again. They produce quite a show in the fall, winter and early spring.
    Kioni, I read a lot of specs from the seed developers that tell the growers how to grow their plants. It is actually rare when one says that the growers don't have to use a growth regulator on a plant. I prefer to grow from seed, so I don't get plants that are subjected to the stuff.

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    10 years ago

    Even though our geraniums are on a different schedule, our names could be the same in the summer! LOL

    Yes, mine do grow minimally during the winter. Every so often (couple of years), i also refresh the soil. I've tried taking cuttings in the fall but they don't always survive, and i don't have a lot of space for keeping the plant dormant over the winter, but i'd like to so that i could use that west window for other things. However, they do well the way i'm doing it now, so i'll stick to it. :)

    I used to keep mine on the deck steps and it looked quite nice. However that area's been overshadowed by a large viburnum, so i'll have to find another place for them!

  • north53 Z2b MB
    10 years ago

    I think there's lots of ways to over winter geraniums. They are very adaptable. I put mine in the cold room and ignore them until about now. I don't have any spare window space to keep them growing over winter, so prefer this way for me. Now I'll bring them out, cut them right back and pot them up. I've cut way back on what I'm keeping. Now I only have the special variegated leaf ones. i find the others are readily available in the spring anyway. Plus I didn't like being kept to the same colour scheme year after year.

Sponsored
Ed Ball Landscape Architecture
Average rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars30 Reviews
Exquisite Landscape Architecture & Design - “Best of Houzz" Winner