IN gardeners parlance the name pelargonium is reserved for the regal type, those of mixed ancestry and remote lineage.
I do not refer here to the ever-popular garden geranium with red blooms which unfortunately tend to grow tall and leggy in front porches all over the country.
The pelargoniums I have in mind are the most splendid of all the family, exotic looking and accessible, asking little but giving much. In our home, they’re an essential episode in the year-round cycle of flowering plants that come and go from the conservatory.
What makes them so utterly desirable? Well, for starters their blooms are larger than all the others-the size of decorative dahlias in some cases, but carried in petite clusters.
At times, there can be so many of these that they obscure the foliage, huge heads of two-tone blooms (usually a deeper colour imposed upon a lighter) standing bolt upright and lasting for a considerable time.
The procession of buds, immature blooms and open flowers can last all summer. At times the flowers can be engagingly ruffled at the margins or their leaves can be highly scented but whichever you choose, delight in the knowledge that they’ll do you proud for anything up to five months from a May purchase.
Light in the conservatory (and not heat) is the prime promoter of the ideal conditions which regal pelargoniums insist upon, and this, plus the fact that their leaves will seldom ever get wetted, means they can outperform all other decorative plants.
Keep them well fed and they’ll continue to produce blooms of pink and purple, white and crimson, and countless shades of lavender and salmon.
Regal pelargoniums can have their vigour dramatically reduced by whitefly. Watch for these on the undersides of leaves and do not allow them to build up to plague proportions.
The odd whitefly can be eliminated by crushing between finger and thumb, but infestations are better dealt with chemically using ‘Provado Bug Killer’.
One spraying will give protection for up to four months.
Beware also of red spider mite. Invisible to the naked eye, this leaf-sucking pest builds up into huge numbers under the hot, dry conditions found in most glass structures during summer.
His handy-work manifests itself in the number of leaves which turn brown and crispy almost overnight.
Control is easy and you won’t have to use chemicals. Simply spray your plants on a daily basis with clear water and try to maintain a humid atmosphere whenever possible.
Red spider mite hates dampness and high humidity.
Finally, I suggest you discard your regal pelargoniums when the season for these finishes in November especially if over-wintering space is at a premium.
If you want to keep them, be sure to cut down on watering so that the compost goes almost dust dry.
