By Sally Gregson.

AFTER the pleasures and pains of Christmas are over and gone for another year, there is a hiatus, a lull, in festivities. It can come as a relief from the excesses to get out into the cold winter garden and spend a quiet time in the greenhouse.
Seed-raised pelargoniums, or ‘geraniums’, are a good way of filling summer pots and window-boxes with colourful flowers throughout the summer until the frosts.

A greenhouse that is heated to 4˚or 5˚c, so that it’s effectively frost-free, is ideal for raising ‘geraniums’. Lots of varieties are available to choose from such as ‘Black Magic Red’ that produces typically red flowers over a crown of black-hearted leaves, that can be grown from seed.

Sow the seed just after Christmas or early in January into 12cm shallow pots, or a half-tray filled with proprietary compost tamped down lightly. Sow the seed individually, widely spaced. Cover it with a fine layer of vermiculite or sharp sand and label the container with the name and date sown. Place the container in a tray of water to absorb the moisture before standing it down to drain, then put it in a covered propagator placed in a warm, sunny place.

Once the seed leaves have emerged, open the ventilators of the propagator to air for a few days, then gradually remove the seed tray from the propagator. Once the seedling roots are visible through the drainage holes, pot up the seedlings individually, placing them in a sunny, frost-free place and keeping them watered. A 9cm pot is ideal at first, potting them on throughout the coming spring, until they are big enough to leave the shelter of the greenhouse.

Once the frosts are past, harden off the young plants gradually – place them outside during the day, indoors at night for about a week. Keep the top growth pruned to shape the plants, encouraging them to make side shoots. And stand back and enjoy the success.