Growing Scented Pelargoniums

These coveted collectors’ plants have pleasing fragrances, unusual leaves, and delicate flowers

Subtlety has its place , but plant life that have a peach odour will always have a habitation in our garden . Though our greenhouses are strangle and crowded , we simply ca n’t resist adding more sweet-smelling genus Pelargonium . We are not alone in our compulsion with these industrial plant . Pelargonium have been collected since Europeans discovered them in the 1600s . Of the 250 species , only about 20 have scented foliage , but fostering of these has led to century of cultivar . The odor is carry in small beads of oil produce in the leaves . bruise or brushing the leaves release the oils into the air and onto your hands . Water vaporise from the leaves will also waft the bouquet throughout a room . There are several Graeco-Roman category of genus Pelargonium scent : rose , heap , citrus , fruit , nut , and the ever - unspeakable catchall family , nipping . These are arbitrary classifications and are often very subjective .

You will not always agree with someone else ’s description . For instance , cocoa palm pelargonium ( Pelargoniumgrossularioides ) is sweet sweet-scented , but we have never detected any intimation of coconut palm in the fragrance . We have never sniff a scented pelargonium that did n’t invoke to us in some direction , but we do , of class , have our favourite . We love the strong fragrance of the rose - perfumed genus Pelargonium ( P.‘Graveolens ’ ) . Another old understudy we ca n’t resist touch whenever we walk by it is Eucalyptus amygdalina pelargonium ( P. tomentosum ) . Its broad , velvety leaves make it our grandchildren ’s preferred as well . We also find it necessary to have the nippy citrus tree - scented pelargoniums ( P. citronellum ) , including ‘ Mabel Gray ’ and other cultivar like ‘ Frensham ’ , ‘ Lemonaire ’ , and ‘ Bitter Lemon ’ in our ingathering . ( For approximation on using pelargoniums in cooking , see “ Plant Scented Geraniums for Flavorful Meals . ” )

Foliage and flowers can be bold or petite

Of course , choosing among scented pelargoniums has as much to do with foliage conformation and color as it does with scent . Leaves can range in duration from the scant 1/2 in ofP.‘Juniper ’ , to the 5 inches ofP.‘Chocolate Peppermint ’ . Some are almost circular ( P. grossularioides ) , while others are gently lobed ( P.‘Variegated Oak Leaf ’ ) or exquisitely dissected ( P.‘Pungent Peppermint ’ ) . Leaves are most often green but may also be golden , grey , or even silvern . Some are slop or edge with white or emollient ( P.‘Lady Plymouth ’ ) or have golden variegations ( P.‘Charity ’ ) . Others may have violet blotches in the leaf centre or along the veins ( P.‘Fair Ellen ’ ) .

The grain of the foliage surface can be smooth , jolty , or velvety . Most sweet genus Pelargonium have five - petaled blossom group in small umbels . The petals are do with two at the top and three at the bottom and range in sizing from just 1/8 inch ( P. grossularioides ) to more than 1 column inch long ( P.‘Roger ’s Delight ’ ) . The colors are usually ashen , rose , or purplish pink . The upper two flower petal are ofttimes blotched or stippled with dour maroon or majestic scoring . plant be given to bloom most heavily in former spring , then intermittently throughout the summer .

Pelargoniums are perfect in the ground or in pots

The pernicious and delicately colored blossom and foliage of genus Pelargonium are easily intermix throughout the dwelling house landscape painting . Though true perennials , they can be rise as such only in Robert Frost - free regions . Still , they can be bedded out as yearbook and are a welcome choice to nance , petunias , marigolds , and their overused pelargonium cousins , the bright bloom zonary geraniums ( Pelargonium × hortorum ) . Varieties like the apple - perfumed ( P. odoratissimum ) and Myristica fragrans - scent pelargoniums ( P.‘Nutmeg ’ ) form cracking mounds that are perfect for edgings and along walkways . They can even be used in a rock garden . The bushy greenery of the rose - scentedP.‘Graveolens ’ can fill in the al-Qaida of a hybrid tea rose or a tall shrub . The golden foliage ofP.‘Charity ’ is a perfect background for the bright empurpled blooms of a shorterPenstemon fruticosus , while the silvery - edged leaves of aP.‘Grey Lady Plymouth ’ reflect the cuticle - pinkish flush ofDianthus‘Inchmery ’ .

Planting in pots

As wonderful as they are in the ground , Pelargonium are perfection in pots . When they are planted in pots , you’re able to get up close and appreciate the varied folio cast and flowers , not to cite the perfume . Some bring themselves quite well to topiary . Our favorites for standards areP. crispum , P. crispum‘Major ’ , andP. crispum‘Variegatum’ . Crispummeans “ curled ” or “ wavy ” and describes the edge of these plants ’ small , ruckle leaves . Small - leaved cultivars are dependable for standards because they produce heads of dense foliage . A ripe option for a container is the rapidly trailing peppermint pelargonium , which can even be trained up a treillage . Other chase after industrial plant for containers include hemangioma simplex ( P.‘Lady Scarborough ’ ) and lemon ( P.‘Roger ’s Delight ’ ) . Anything with an adequate drainage hole can be used as a container .

Soil and care needs

in force potting mixing hold back ingredients like peat moss , pasteurized compost , and perlite , which guarantee both moisture retention and excellent drain . Use a timed - unfreeze fertilizer in the filth or an all - design liquid fertiliser when you water . genus Pelargonium like atomic number 12 , and a teaspoonful of epsom salts ( atomic number 12 sulfate ) added to each Imperial gallon of plant food solution every few watering will adequately provide this nutrient .

As with plants in the priming , place containers in the full sun . When temperatures get above 90 ° degree Fahrenheit pelargoniums appreciate some afternoon tad . The best reason to grow scented genus Pelargonium in pots is that you may easy bring them indoors for the winter . Do this before outdoor temperatures drop below 45 ° F , to avoid shocking them . Place them in a Confederate States of America - facing windowsill that gets at least four hr of lineal sun a day .

Pruning

Prune for trust form and to spread Whether you grow your plants in pots or in the ground , regular pruning is necessary to keep them shaped . Begin shaping a plant when it is a newly root press cutting . When it has grown a few node , cut off its top to encourage branching below the cutting off . Repeat this succession for the next few serial of growing shoot , until the plant life has a stalwart , attractive framework of branches . bloom buds are produced at the baksheesh of offset . After you have found the desire frame , stop pruning and admit the plant to flower . After the first and heaviest flush of springtime blooms is over , hold the flora ’s pattern by removing old flower stalks and stagnant leaves and go forward to prune off shoot tips if more branching is desired .

The best metre to prune older plant is in late wintertime or other natural spring . prune back stem by as much as half their duration will energise newfangled growth and preclude a woody , treelike appearance . This is also a good fourth dimension to move plants into big potful or just replace the soil . Cuttings taken during the summer will provide new plants to move indoors for the fall ( see sidebar , above ) . Growing scented Pelargonium is easy for the beginner nurseryman yet pop the question enough intricacies to stir the interestingness of an zealous plant collector .

Any gardener is certain to enrapture in the judicious scent these plants give off . Simply rub a leafage of the plant sitting on the windowsill or brushing along the edge of a pathway lined with scented pelargoniums is enough to occupy the aviation with fragrance .

— Jim and Dotti Becker run Goodwin Creek Gardens in Williams , Oregon . They specialize in fragrant works , herbs , and everlastings .

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