About
This tender evergreen perennial, with a shrubby habit and large, slightly cupped, hairy green leaves, sometimes finely edged with red. Clusters of trumpet-shaped, mauve coloured flowers, with dark reddish purple markings and paler edges, are produced from late spring into summer.
About the genus
Pelargonium can be perennials, sub-shrubs or shrubs, sometimes succulent and mostly evergreen, with palmately lobed or pinnately divided leaves and clusters of slightly irregular, 5-petalled flowers
Growing conditions
SunlightFull sun, Partial shade
Soil typeChalk, Loam, Sand
Soil pHAlkaline, Neutral
Soil moistureWell-drained
AspectSouth-facing, West-facing
ExposureSheltered
UK hardinessH1C
Plant details
Plant typeHerbaceous Perennial
HabitBushy
FoliageEvergreen
Height0.5-1 metres
Spread0.1-0.5 metres
Time to full height2-5 years
Suggested usesCity and courtyard gardens, Cottage and informal garden, Patio and container plants
Native toSouth Africa (Cape)
Care notes
CultivationMay be planted outdoors in beds, baskets and containers after all risk of frost has passed; young plants may need to be hardened off first. Grow in fertile, neutral to alkaline soil in full sun, and overwinter indoors. See pelargonium cultivation for more detailed advice
PruningDeadhead regularly
PropagationPropagate by seed or by softwood cuttings in spring or early autumn
Pest resistanceMay be susceptible to vine weevil, glasshouse leafhopper, root mealybugs, aphids, caterpillars, thrips, fungus gnats and glasshouse whitefly
Disease resistanceMay be susceptible to grey moulds, black leg, pelargonium rust and pelargonium viruses