Plant guide : Pelargoniums
Botanical name: Pelargonium spp.
Pelargoniums are beautiful, scented leaved plants. We have been growing them for a few years and our collection is expanding every year, we’re a bit obsessed! They are such versatile plants, as well as looking gorgeous, the flowers are edible and can be used to decorate cakes and puddings, and the leaves can be used as a flavouring or even to make tea.
They can be grown as bedding plants outside during the summer months, or in containers, but they are not frost hardy so need to be brought inside before the cold weather arrives, or moved to a sheltered, frost-free spot in the garden. They also make ideal houseplants – we grow the majority of ours in the conservatory and move them out onto the patio in the middle of summer.
There are many different types of pelargonium as they have been bred extensively for certain characteristics, such as scented leaves, or flower colour. Pelargoniums are often referred to by their cultivar name, for example Pelargonium ‘Attar of Roses’ – a popular variety with pink flowers and a rose scent.
Plant type:
Tender perennial
Pelargoniums are perennial plants that live for a number of years, but are “tender” – that is, they can’t withstand the frosts and cold temperatures in the UK.
Growing conditions:
Pelargoniums are easy to grow as long as you understand what they need. They’re happy in a spot with full sun and fertile, moist soil. If grown in pots, indoors or outdoors, grow in potting compost or in John Innes No 2 in a light sunny spot. If growing in a conservatory or greenhouse, make sure you have good ventilation.
How to plant:
Pelargoniums are normally bought as a plant (rather than grown from seed), or can be easily propagated from a stem cutting. Our favourite place to buy them is from Fibrex Nurseries (www.fibrex.co.uk). They have the National Collection of Pelargoniums and sell the most incredible selection; you’ll be spoilt for choice.
If you’re growing in pots, either inside or out, you can simply transfer them from the nursery container into the pot of your choice. Add a little extra compost at the bottom and around the sides if needed. If you’re planting them into the garden as bedding, set out the plants and then dig a hole slightly wider and to the same depth as your nursery pot. Gently tease the plant from the plastic pot, place in the holes, back fill and water.
Care:
Water your pelargoniums sparingly every two to three days during spring and summer- you need to be careful not to overwater them, particularly if they are indoors.
Feed your pelargoniums with an organic liquid plant food every month in the summer to keep them looking at their best.
Dead-head faded blooms regularly to help prolong flowering. If they are planted outside, they may need this more often after it has rained. Contact with the foliage may occasionally aggravate skin allergies, so wear gloves if you are particularly sensitive.
When the weather starts to turn cold, before the first frost, move your pots into a frost-free place or lift the plants that are in the ground and pot them up inside, cutting the top growth back by one-third as you do so. They will only need to be watered very sparingly during the winter.
As an insurance against any winter losses, or simply to grow new plants, you can take stem cuttings in August or September. Keep cuttings on a sunny windowsill over Winter and they will quickly root.
Our favourite varieties:
· Pelargonium ‘Attar of Roses.’ This is popular for good reason, it has a lovely pink flower, with both the leaves and the flowers scented like a rose.
· ‘Orange Fizz.’ Pink flowers and leaves with a zingy orange scent.
· ‘Cola bottles.’ This is one you have to smell to really believe, the leaves honestly do have the scent of coca cola! For pure show-stopping bizareness, we can’t resist this.
· ‘Queen of Lemons’ has a lemon-scented leaf that is great for cooking
· Pelargonium sidoides – a gorgeous pelargonium with silver leaves and the most delicate, dainty dark crimson flowers.
· Pelargonium tomentosum – grown more for its leaves than its tiny white flowers, this has gorgeous fuzzy, tactile foliage, topped with a spray of tiny flowers. Impossible to pass without stroking the leaves…
Uses:
Scented-leaf pelargoniums can be used for all sorts of things, from cooking, to garnishes, to scenting bath water! Add a few leaves if your favourite variety as a garnish in a G&T, to a fruit salad, or added into a jam or chutney.
Pelargoniums can also be used as a cut flower bouquet. The flowers themselves don’t last that long (up to about five days) but the scented leaves are a great backdrop of foliage in a mixed posy.
Because they’re such an easy plant to propagate, they make a great (cheap but gorgeous) gift. Take a cutting in late Summer (August or September is best), remove the bottom leaves from the stem and place in compost. It should happily root and grow over the winter and spring and will be ready to put in a nice pot the following year!
Pelargonium or geranium?
There is often confusion between pelargoniums and geraniums. Which is which and how can you tell the difference?! This is partly because “pelargonium” is a relatively recent classification. All pelargoniums used to be called geraniums, but they have since been reclassified to their own separate genus of pelargonium. They’re often called “scented pelargoniums” (and geraniums sometimes called “hardy geraniums”).
A pelargonium is a tender plant, that needs to be brought in for the winter months in the UK, and often has scented leaves. They’re sometimes referred to as “pellies” for short. Whereas, geraniums will be planted straight into the garden, as they are “hardy” – they will survive the winter temperatures and grow back each year.
If you’re still not sure which is which, the best way is to look at the flowers. Though both have flowers with five petals, a geranium flower makes a round shape overall, with petals all roughly the same size and touching each other. A pelargonium flower has two upper petals, with three lower petals that are a different shape.
