Our Day 26 plant has an interesting story. I’ve seen Geranium maderense in books and catalogs for years, so about seven years ago, I finally purchased some seeds. I ended up with only one good seedling.

This plant is supposed to be biennial and somewhat tender, so I wintered it in the greenhouse and then promptly neglected to plant it in the garden or pot it on. The plant kept growing but did not bloom in that second year. I potted it up and then kept in the greenhouse again, and then never planted it in the garden. So, now I have what might be the only seven-year-old Geranium maderense around!

You can see in the above photo how the leaf stems turn down after the leaves die and help support the stem. This is a cool, unusual behavior.

My 2020 goals for this plant are to plop it into a nice spot in the garden early in the spring and hopefully have it grow strongly and bloom before frost.