Growing Annual Geranium (Pelargonium): A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Annual geranium is the classic bedding and container plant most gardeners know from nursery six-packs, but it’s grown here from seed instead, which means starting well ahead of the season rather than buying an already-blooming plant.
Only transplant, no shortcuts
Direct-seeding isn’t recommended for this one; it needs an indoor head start. Sow 7 to 9 weeks before planting out for small cell trays, or 9 to 11 weeks for larger cells, covering the seed lightly at an eighth of an inch since light isn’t required for germination. Germination takes 7 to 10 days at 70-75°F. Space plants 12 to 14 inches apart in beds, or 3 to 5 plants in a 10-to-12-inch container.
Deadheading matters more than usual
Removing spent blooms regularly does more for this plant’s overall health and continued flowering than almost any other single piece of care. A geranium left to set seed on old blooms slows down noticeably compared to one that’s kept deadheaded through the season.
Annual geranium has no well-established companion pairings, and nothing it needs to be kept away from. It’s well suited to container plantings in the Garden Designer, tolerating part shade with reduced flowering if a full-sun spot isn’t available.
Source: Geranium: Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Annual Geranium (Pelargonium) · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 2-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Mature height: 1-1.5 ft
Method: Start indoors: Start indoors from seed, then transplant outside. It needs a head start most zones can't give it by direct-sowing alone.
When to plant annual geranium (pelargonium), by zone
Every zone annual geranium (pelargonium) grows in. Pick your zone in the header and it will be highlighted here. Each zone links to its full page.
| Zone | Start indoors | Sow or plant out | Bloom |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2a & 2b | Mar 18–Mar 25 | May 27–Jun 3 | Aug 25–Sep 1 |
| 3a & 3b | Mar 28–Apr 4 | Jun 6–Jun 13 | Sep 4–Sep 11 |
| 4a & 4b | Mar 13–Mar 20 | May 22–May 29 | Aug 20–Aug 27 |
| 5a & 5b | Mar 8–Mar 15 | May 17–May 24 | Aug 15–Aug 22 |
| 6a & 6b | Feb 21–Feb 28 | May 2–May 9 | Jul 31–Aug 7 |
| 7a & 7b | Feb 6–Feb 13 | Apr 17–Apr 24 | Jul 16–Jul 23 |
| 8a & 8b | Jan 21–Jan 28 | Apr 1–Apr 8 | Jun 30–Jul 7 |
| 9a & 9b | Dec 14–Dec 21 | Feb 22–Mar 1 | May 23–May 30 |
| 10a & 10b | Nov 28–Dec 5 | Feb 6–Feb 13 | May 7–May 14 |
| 11a & 11b | Oct 30–Nov 6 | Jan 8–Jan 15 | Apr 8–Apr 15 |
Bloom dates are about 90 days after the sow or plant-out date, not after starting seeds indoors.
Zone 2 sows before zone 3 here, which looks wrong and is not. USDA zones rank winter cold, not season length, and zone 2 is mostly interior Alaska, where hard winters come with warm summers. More on what a zone measures.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Annual Geranium (Pelargonium) plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 1 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1-1.5 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- 'Maverick™ Salmon' annual geranium: Johnny's Selected Seeds sells this F1 as an easy-to-grow container classic, part of their standard seed-propagated Maverick line. (source)
- 'Maverick™ Orange' annual geranium (best for: bright container color): The same Maverick F1 line in a bolder orange, a brighter contrast than the softer Salmon and Appleblossom shades for a container that needs to stand out. (source)
Why each variety is listed comes from the source shown next to it. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement. The buy links are separate from those sources: they go to seed suppliers that sell that exact variety, and we may earn a commission on some of them.
Where to buy annual geranium seeds
None of the seed suppliers we list carries annual geranium seeds right now. A local garden center or a specialty seed house is the place to look.
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See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing annual geranium (pelargonium)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Annual Geranium (Pelargonium): The classic bedding and container geranium, grown here from seed as an annual rather than as a cutting-propagated nursery plant.
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