Pelargonium longicaule - species pelargonium

P. longicaule

A friend in South Africa kindly sent me some seed of Pelargonium longicaule that grows in her garden.  She had seen my reference on one of the Facebook pages to P. trifidum that I grow in a hanging pot and said that P. longicaule also grows well in a hanging pot.  You can see my 2010 blog about P. trifidum here. 

The seeds arrived with me in about June or July last year and I sowed them immediately.  Only one germinated and this was quickly grown on and is now a fairly large and sprawling plant.   I was delighted to spot a flower on my plant this morning.

Diana Miller, in her book Pelargoniums, says that the first reference to this plant is in 1767 when it was described as a form of P.myrrhifolium but there has been much confusion about the nomenclature of this section.  Found growing in mountainous regions of south-western Cape Province, P. longicaule is a low growing and spreading plant with white to pale pink flowers, often tinged yellow in bud.

I am looking forward to growing this in a hanging pot this year.

Trailing treasure

Pelargonium trfidum

This is a new plant for me this year - I spotted Pelargonium trifidum growing in a hanging pot at Woottens of Wenhaston Nursery when I was there in June.  It was most attractive and I could not resist one for myself!   This is a tuberous-rooted species from the eastern region of Cape Province in South Africa.   The leaves, which are trifoliate, have a pungent scent when touched, some find it unpleasant, but I have not found it so.  The flowers are a delicate cream colour with veining on the top two petals, and always three to each stem.



P. trfidum in hanging pot

It's a busy week this week - we will be away on Friday for two weeks, so there is much to do both indoors, in the garden and in the greenhouse.  I am beginning to panic about leaving the greenhouses!