germaniums and marigolds
 

If I clip off these flowers when they are dying off and bury the dying
flower clippings in the planter will they grow a new? I thought I had
read something about this on here recently, but wasn't sure if these
two types of flowers fall into that category.

Toby

wrote in message
...
If I clip off these flowers when they are dying off and bury the dying
flower clippings in the planter will they grow a new? I thought I had
read something about this on here recently, but wasn't sure if these
two types of flowers fall into that category.

Removing the spent flowers is call "dead heading." The spent flowers will
not grow new plants. If you look at zonal geraniums (the kind sold as
annuals that are actually pelargoniums) you will see that they have nodes
along the stems where new leaves emerge. If you bury stems (not spent
flowers) so the node is below the surface, you should get root formation.
To improve your luck, you can use some rooting hormone. I haven't heard of
anyone rooting marigold cutting, but I guess you could try. You will can
usually find marigold seeds at garden centers. I think you would have
better luck trying to grow marigolds from seed rather than cuttings.

wrote:

If I clip off these flowers when they are dying off and bury the dying
flower clippings in the planter will they grow a new? I thought I had
read something about this on here recently, but wasn't sure if these
two types of flowers fall into that category.

Toby


The dead heads that get pollinated or whathaveyou become seeds.
Towards the end of the season i let them get ratty and dried out on
the stem then collect a bunch for the next year. The seeds are rather
unusual looking--like tiny matchsticks. One end is black , the other
is feathery with long strands, like a broom. They are rather large for
seeds, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch long. If you roll a dried dead-head
around in your fingers the seeds will come out. I also do that with
Nasturtiums since they are both beneficial plants. The only geraniums
I've had I over wintered indoors. The flowers when left develop into
spikes, which contian the seeds from my understanding. I've never had
them reseed though. Actually I take that back I did see one wild one.


DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
3rd year gardener
http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalfrazier/

Marigolds are very easy to root. The biggest advantage to rooting
cuttings is that if you root cuttings from a blooming plant the rooted
cuttings are ready to bloom also rather than waiting for a plant
started from seed to mature.

Marv-Montezuma, IA
http://community.webshots.com/user/vmwood