New releases of these ever-popular flowering plants (which have indigenous forefathers) appear every year, and the good news is that they have more compact but multi-branching growth habits, more abundant flowers and better disease-resistance – we thank the untiring and dedicated breeders for this. Due to their efforts and the growing skills of our local trade, we can fill our pots, barrels, window boxes and beds with the latest zonal pelargoniums, and plant up hanging baskets, window boxes and retaining walls with tough and trailing ivy-leaved pelargoniums.
Flowering time
Most of the modern varieties flower repeatedly throughout the year, but the natural flowering peaks are in spring and again in autumn when the temperatures are more moderate.
The best climate
In very cold regions, these plants should either be treated as annual summer colour or planted in very sheltered areas. In temperate, warm to dry regions your pelargoniums will be biannual or perennial, flowering and growing well for quite a few seasons before you’ll need to replace them with fresh plants. They will also flourish in humid, subtropical regions, but you should then be aware of the possibility of fungal diseases and treat the growing medium preventatively for it.
How to grow them
Although pelargoniums are easy to grow and quite tough, they have a few specific requirements to keep them in flower:
Position: Full sun is perfect, but a good few hours of morning sun and afternoon shade will also work.
This story is from the August 2020 edition of The Gardener.
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This story is from the August 2020 edition of The Gardener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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