Wordless Wednesday 27/7/11 - "Ken Lea Butterfly" - Zonal pelargonium

Zonal Pelargonium - Ken Lea Butterfly"

Wordless Wednesday - 20/07/11 Stan Rawlings - Miniature tri coloured stellar pelargonium

 Miniature tri-coloured stellar pelargonium  - "Stan Rawlings"

Species Pelargonium stenopetalum, or is it Pelargonium burtoniae?

I bought this plant about four years ago with the name Pelargonium burtoniae.  It was not in flower, and I bought it because I did not have this plant in my collection and not heard of it.

When I checked in Diana Miller's Guide to Species I found that P. burtoniae was described and named in 1927 from a plant found by a Mrs Burton in a garden in eastern Cape Province.  However, it is identical to the plant grown in Europe as P. stenopetalum for 200 years.   I changed the label to P. stenopetalum.

The flowers of P. stenopetalum are quite distinct as you can see from my photographs. They are a very bright pink, with very thin spidery petals and are easily spotted in the greenhouse.   The leaves are waxy, pale green with a very faint zone.  It is easy to take cuttings of P. stenopetalum and I treat it as a normal zonal, except I grow it in a John Innes No. 2 compost with added grit for extra drainage.  It does tend to sprawl a bit.

Wordless Wednesday - 22/06/11 -" Merry Go Round" - Coloured leaf pelargonium

Pelargonium "Rushmoor Golden Ruffles" lives up to its name

Newly introduced this year, Rushmoor Golden Ruffles, hybridised by Steve Pollard, is a really stunning pelargonium.   It is a dwarf Stellar Pelargonium with gold leaves that have a light bronze zone.   The double flowers are a beautiful shade of pink with a white tip to the ends of the petals, giving it a shimmering glow.   Rushmoor Golden Ruffles is short jointed and very floriferous and will make a stunning show plant.

Rushmoor Golden Ruffles is only available for sale from Gosbrook Pelargoniums - www.gosbrookpelargoniums.com

You might remember I have written in the past about the seedlings cousin Sue found in her pots of pelargoniums when we tidied them up last September.  She potted several of them up and grew them on over the winter. They are very health looking plants and now they have 'left home'.   Sue very kindly gave me one.  Mine has yet to flower, but Sue's has flowered planted out on her front doorstep.    It looks a lovely shade of pink and I think mine will be the same as I can see a little bit of colour showing on the buds.

Wordless Wednesday: 15.06.11 - Courtney Watson - Coloured leaf pelargonium

Courtney Watson - coloured leaf Pelargonium