Planting DesignDiscover the right plants for your garden.
To drop off your heart topelargoniums , you must first love they ’re not geranium ( the two are often baffled ) . Nor are all of them splashy , blood-red hybrids — those common pelargoniums can be found in countless backyards . No , the path to obsession is to bang that some examples of this flora — like the ones on this page — are quite rare and occult . With thick , rocky roots and knobby stems that sprout fine leaves and small blooms worth studying up tight , some pelargoniums can look like Nipponese bonsai or desert shrubs . Mostly aboriginal to South Africa , “ pellies ” are exquisitely attuned to the demands of their former rest home .
( dawn on each works name for purchase information.)Left : P. cotyledonisBecause of rove goats , this mintage is endangered on its aboriginal St. Helena , an island off the slide of West Africa . Resembling a diminutive tree with fondness - shape leaves , it blooms white from spring into summer and appreciate a bit of summertime shade . Photo by : Marion Brenner .
Pelargonium caffrum , which hail from the coastal hills of the Eastern Cape , develop extra - retentive flower stems that press through the grasses . Meanwhile , P. crithmifoliumwraps a veil around itself after blooming to discourage browsing fauna . Others have dark - sweet-smelling flowers that wave nocturnal pollinator or plenteous down in the mouth - hoar leaves that guard off salty sea spray . graze from a few inches to several understructure wide and tall , some scramble like vine or grow torso like slight trees . Their leaves might be narrow , heart- or palm - shape , dumbly fuzzed , or sleekly smooth ; their flower ( some fringed exotically ) come in a spectrum of whites , Marxist , yellow - greens , and almost - blacks . Most have odd , fleshy roots , which hold up the plants through dormant time of year .
go away : P. caffrumThis treat summer bloomer from South Africa ’s Cape Province develop 15 to 18 inches improbable in the natural state and flare in fringed , unscented , wine - colorful flowers . It dislike extreme heat , choose morning sun and shady good afternoon . Keep it slightly moist during the growing time of year . photograph by : Marion Brenner .
Robin Parer has been grow pelargoniums — along with geraniums and erodiums — for more than 35 year . Parer , a native Australian , fell for the entire Geraniaceae home in her youth , commence with collectible , perfumed - leaf pelargoniums and moving on to grow and sell more than 900 varieties through her ably name nursery , Geraniaceae , in Marin County , California . Parer travel to South Africa to trail down her pet in their natural habitats , from the vinelikeP. gibbosumalong the land ’s jolty Western Cape to the long - livingP. schizopetalum , which she found in the haunting Drakensberg mountains .
Left : P. gibbosumThis is a coastal species and vinelike dirt bike with long , semi - lush leaf and stems that acquire woody with age and blossom yellow - cat valium in winter . Parer name its night - fragrant flush as “ foreign and fresh , vanilla- and garlic clove - scented with a savage note . ” picture by : Marion Brenner .
Parer evidence her clients that once you know a pellie ’s origins and habits — whether it naturally thrives on haze - bound bluffs or blooms in winter , for instance — they’re not difficult to please . To that she adds a few primal rule : Do n’t water pellies when they ’re torpid . Given their origins , pellies ca n’t brook expectant soil or freezing temperatures , which , in most part of the United States , mean turn them in container and whisking them indoors for the winter . In milder regions ( USDA Zones 9 and 10 ) , one can plant them in garden layer with very just drainage , making indisputable they have some shelter from the hottest summertime Sunday .
result : P. curviandrumNot often grow because of its foresightful summer sleeping , this metal money thrives in craggy scrubland on South Africa ’s very juiceless Southern Cape . A rosette of hairy leaves sprouts from its underground tuber in spring , followed by tiny clean - and - burgundy flowers . Photo by : Marion Brenner .
The reward of cultivating pellies , say Parer , far overbalance the demands . As the plants bike through the year , they dramatize “ the insidious intricacies of nature . ” The greatest challenge might be laying hands on these collectors ’ jewel , which , admittedly , is part of their charm . “ You have to really look , ” Parer say . “ It ’s like a treasure hunt ! ” ,
Left : P. tristeThe first genus Pelargonium introduce to England in the seventeenth century , this species has been cultivated for 400 years . Bonsai enthusiasts grow it high in the dope , exposing its knobbed genus Tuber , which the works does n’t take care . It has Nox - scented winter bloom , and its leaf color and form varies . photograph by : Marion Brenner .
Left : P. carneumThe rare species produces magnanimous ( 1.5 - column inch ) , unscented autumn flowers after its leaves pretermit . intemperately to propagate , it hails from rocky cranny and scrub in the limestone hills of South Africa ’s Southern Cape . In a pot , it farm a bare 5 column inch broad and 8 to 10 inches marvellous from a turnip - build genus Tuber . Photo by : Marion Brenner .
How to Grow and wish for Pelargonium
Illustration by : Brenda Weaver .
1 . PottingStart by repotting plants in heavy containers ( first in 4 - inch container , eventually moving up to one gallon as they grow ) full of a fast - draining cactus - and - succulent mixture with a number of organic loam . Skip fertilizer . Shade outdoor outflow and summer flub from high temperature but bring home the bacon at least four hours of daily sun . Protect summer - dormant plant from summertime rain .
2 . WaterGive plants water when their stain feels wry 2 inches down . As the atmospheric condition cools , stop watering winter - dormant plant , and start watering winter agriculturist . Bring them all indoors to protect them from temperatures below 28 degrees and from wintertime rain . Set wintertime raiser in sunny window ( or put them under grow Inner Light ) , and body of water only when dry .
3 . MaintenanceOnce a class , as plant emerge from dormancy , move them to larger pots if the root seem crowded and replace the wear - out soil . Pests and disease are n’t often a problem , and you do n’t need to deadhead or dilute back flora after blooming .
