Lavender Beauty

Deerwood Lavender Lass

With small magenta flowers that have feathering on the top two petals and a spreading habit, this is a plant that I would not be without growing in a hanging pot during the summer.    The leaves do smell very faintly of lavender, most noticeable in the morning if the pot has been hanging in the greenhouse.  Deerwood Lavender Lass was hybridised as a species derived (i.e. from two species pelargoniums) by Faye Brawner, well known American hybridiser, and introduced in 1993.   

The photo was taken over the weekend.  The plant is beginning to 'go over' but it has been covered in flowers all summer.

Mrs Brawner also introduced another species derived plant, Deerwood Lavender Lad in the same year.  The flowers are somewhat darker, but the plant is much more untidy and sprawly and not suited to a hanging pot on its own.

This morning I removed all the flowers in one greenhouse. Heartbreaking, but I am going to be away for two weeks and as I have already spotted botrytis  on one or two plants, I need to remove the flowers to stop it spreading. I put some of them in a small vase and you can see the result in the new header photo. It was also a good opportunity to go over the plants to check for rust (I did not find any thankfully) and remove all yellowing leaves, even those with the slightest edging of yellow.  They won't recover, so best to remove them, and it helps with opening up the plant for better air circulation during the winter months.