Wordless Wednesday - 28/9/11 "Warrenorth Thulite" Coloured leaf zonal pelargonium

"Warrenorth Thulite" - coloured leaf zonal pelargonium

Charmay Cocky - basic zonal pelargonium

Basic zonal pelargonium "Charmay Cocky"

Although I mainly grow miniature and dwarf zonal pelargoniums, I do grow a few of the basic types.  One I admit to having a very soft spot for is Pelargonium "Charmay Cocky".  The two-tone pink semi double flowers are most unusual.  Each petal is very pale pink, sometimes almost white, but with a darker pink centre and a darker pink narrow edge to each petal.  The leaves are green with a feint zone.  

This is a plant that I brought back from Australia a few years ago when I was attending a Pelargonium Conference and I am thrilled that Gosbrook Pelargoniums in Shrivenham, Near Oxford, have decided to release it this year.  

As those of you who will have read my previous blogs, pelargoniums with the pre-fix "Charmay" were hybridised by Ken Attfield who lives in New South Wales, Australia.  Ken told me that the word "Cocky" is Australian slang for a cowboy or farmer.  

"Charmay Cocky" can be obtained from Gosbrook Pelargoniums - www.gosbrookpelargoniums.com
or e-mail: enquiries@gosbrook-pelargoniums.com

Wordless Wednesday 21/09/11 - Warrenorth Rubelite, Coloured Leaf Zonal Pelargonium

Coloured Leaf Zonal Pelargonium - "Warrenorth Rubelite"

Lady Plymouth - still attractive after 160 years

Scented Pelargonium "Lady Plymouth"

Pelargonium "Lady Plymouth" is one of the most popular and attractive scented pelargoniums.  The pale grey-green leaves have a thin white edging, are deeply divided and have a rose scent when rubbed.    The flowers are single, small and pale mauve in colour with darker feathering on the top two petals and the plant has a compact growth habit. 

The plant is probably a sport of the scented Pelargonium graveolens, which has the same leaf form, but darker and brighter green with no variegation.   Occasionally P. "Lady Plymouth" will produced all green shoots similar to P. graveolens, in which case the green shoots should be removed.

Scented Pelargonium "Lady Plymouth" was first described in the UK in 1852, but had probably been in cultivation well before then.    This is one plant I like to grow indoors as it is a neat and tidy plant, and grows well near a bright window.

Scented Pelargonium "Copthorne" flowers at last

Scented Pelargonium "Copthorne"

The scented pelargonium "Copthorne" grows too large for my greenhouse so I like to plant it in a very small bed just outside the second greenhouse.  It quickly grows into a sizeable plant of about 18"high (46cm) with large mauve flowers which have darker 'feathering' on the top two petals. An added bonus is the scent when I brush past it on entering and leaving the greenhouse.   "Copthorne" does not have a sweet scent, but is rather like cedar wood, and not unpleasant. It usually looks quite spectacular as it flowers for most of the summer.  However, this year it has only just come into flower, caused, I think, by the dull days with low light levels we have had here in the UK this year.  

Said to be a cross between the Regal "Aztec" and an oak leaf pelargonium (?"Royal Oak"), "Copthorne" was raised by Annie Popperwell (now Annie Holmes) of Essex and introduced by Thorpe's Nursery in 1985.

Wordless Wednesday 14/09/11 - Warrenorth Pearl - Coloured Leaf Zonal Pelargonium

Warrenorth Pearl - Coloured leaf zonal pelargonium