Main Picture

Main Picture

Thursday 23 June 2011

'Elmsett' & The Great Migration Home

'Elmsett' is one of the best dwarf fancy leaved and fancy flowered varieties.  It it tough, blooms all the time, and does very well under lights or in direct sun.  It is a great bullet-proof variety for introducing somebody into dwarf pelargoniums as it is not finicky and gives you a lot of value for the care required.

Every spring my greenhouse stock plants make the trip to my backyard.  This year I am retiring some plants and repotting those rarer varieties, but the end result is 100s of plants getting loaded into my car and transported to their summer vacation spot...my patios, decks, around the pool...just about anywhere I can find a spot.  My neighbours must think I am mad.  I find this a bad time to take cuttings, yet for those plant I retire, I often try some if I do not have many replacements on the go.  Juggling 100s of varieties is mind-numbing, and my greatest pelargonium fear is pitching a plant without having backup.  Always check the soil of older plant's pots for disease evidence or pests, and if you do take cuttings now, it is best to keep them in a semi-sunny at best location out of the direct heat of the sun.  And for those really, really rare tricolour plants (especially silver tricolours), keep some plants under lights indoors as backup.  I have learned that my 'Dolly Varden' plants love the shaded gazebo. 

No comments:

Post a Comment