Marianne's Response

Geraniums

After 5 years of beautiful blossoms, suddenly they have a lot of beautiful green growth but no blossoms

Posted by Rondia White on June 23, 2020

Marianne's Response

Do you mean the pelargonium geraniums with the rounded leaves and large flower clusters? There are also hardy geraniums or true geraniums. The annual or pelargonium geraniums will produce only leaves if given a high nitrogen plant food and not enough sun. They are sun lovers that bloom best with a balanced fertilizer such as Osmocote slow release. Perhaps a hi nitrogen lawn food fell near their roots. The cranesbill or true geraniums grown as a groundcover will stop flowering if given too much shade or if they are stressed with dry soil. Perhaps some nearby trees have grown to shade them. You mention 5 years of beautiful blooms so I would suspect the true geraniums that are usually grown as a perennial but sometimes in warm climates the annual geraniums or pelargoniums come back year after year and act as perennials. If this is the case it may be time to cut the plants back and start fresh. Life is too short to put up with ugly plants. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti