Fascinating ruffled ranunculus. Spring 2025

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Waiting while the buds slowly develop on my four year old Galtonia Candicans is like being a child anticipating the prize from a Cracker Jack. Galtonia Candicans or Summer Hyacinth is not hardy in zone 6a, our garden's hardiness zone. Hardy in zones 7 thru 10 I am able to dig the bulbs up in tact in their soil and transfer to a pot and put in a warmer sheltered place in my garage near a window in the winter months. I water it when the soil looks dry and it basically looks like a pot of dirt all winter long. I label it well to remind myself of the prize inside that pot when during June and July it develops into the gradual bell shaped white flower cascade - perfect for hummingbirds. Ornithogalum candicans or Galtonia candicans is native to moist grassland in South Africa and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Merit. Much taller than a typical hyacinth it shows beautifully in your garden and is well worth the act of storing it away in winter months. It would make a worth while cut flower for a really unique display. The older the bulbs are, the more apt you will be able to divide and multiply them.

Tidying up my plants that I keep indoors over the winter is one of my favorite things to do especially when it's cold outside. This scented geranium, pelargonium, has basically turned into a tiny tree over the years - it was climbing up one of our braided hibiscus plants and basically needed to be cut back. Geraniums are very easy to start rooting in a sunny window in your home. Here I have about eight separate cuttings, all of which will wait for roots to develop in water. Pot them up in some good soil and eight small scented geraniums become new plants to share or keep. This particular geranium is verbena scented. There are mint, chocolate mint, apple, rose, lemon, orange, coconut scented geraniums out there to add to your collection of plants. They are easy to grow indoors and out. I recommend bringing them outdoors in the summer time. They produce tiny flowers and can be trained as a topiary. Scented geraniums are heat and drought tolerant plants.