Summer has finally arrived and the garden is full of blooms especially the Pelargonium species, with many butterflies, bees, lizards and our latest visitor a slow worm who remains hidden in our stone wall.
P. peltatum (pink form & pale purplish pink form) are flowering well this year, a lovely trailing pelargonium which grows in hanging baskets, they have rounded fleshy leaves and can range in colour from white, pink or pale purple.
Pelargonium australe has also just started to flower with its lovely long flowering stems and white blooms, native to Australia.
This plant grows well in a pot or planted in the garden in full sun to part shade.
Another is Pelargonium odoratissimum which has soft velverty heart shaped apple scented leaves and small white flowers.
Pelargonium mollicomum has recently opened its creamy white flowers with thin purple lines, it is another pelargonium which grows well in hanging baskets and beneath taller shrubs
Unfortunately Pelargonium hispdum has not flowered yet, maybe because it was suffered in the harsh winter weather. But possibly it will flower a little later in Summer hopefully.
We try to leave in as much wild flowers as possible for bees and butterflies which come from neighbouring land, the milk thistle which has light purple flowers especially attracts many types of butterflies. The swallowtail butterflies prefer fennel and lay their eggs on the leaves. The many lizards like to hide under shrubs such as the rosemary and other herbs.
Others include Pelargonium abrotanifolium, P. greytonense, P. scabrum & P. quercifolium.
we now have fresh seeds of P. odoratissmum- apple scented leaf & P. grossularioides- fruit scented leaf
more info at http://www.pelargoniumspeciesworld.com
Pelargonium Species world 