Size
Ultimate height
0.1–0.5 metresTime to ultimate height
1–2 yearsUltimate spread
0.1–0.5 metresGrowing conditions
Moisture
Well–drainedpH
Acid, Alkaline, NeutralColour & scent
| Stem | Flower | Foliage | Fruit | |
| Spring | Green Red White | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer | Red | Green Red White | ||
| Autumn | Green Red White | |||
| Winter | Green Red White |
Position
- Full sun
- Partial shade
Aspect
West–facing or East–facing
Exposure
Exposed or Sheltered Hardiness
H1CBotanical details
- Family
- Geraniaceae
- Native to the UK
- No
- Foliage
- Evergreen
- Habit
- Bushy
- 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
- Name status
Accepted
- Horticultural Group
- Zonal pelargoniums are bushy evergreen perennials with fleshy stems, rounded, palmately lobed leaves often zoned with maroon, and single or double flowers in shades of purple, red, pink, orange and white, from early to late summer
How to grow
Cultivation
Grow in fertile well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade. Remove spent flowers. To overwinter, grow small plants in late summer from cuttings or cut back old plants by one third and lift for storage in frost-free place to repot in spring when growth resumes. See Pelargonium cultivation for further advice.
Propagation
Take softwood cuttings in summer and overwinter plants in frost free conditions or take softwood cuttings in spring
Suggested planting locations and garden types
- City and courtyard gardens
- Coastal
- Cottage and informal garden
- Patio and container plants
- Flower borders and beds
Pruning
Deadhead regularly
Pests
May be susceptible to vine weevil, leafhoppers, caterpillars, thrips, fungus gnats and aphids
Diseases
May be susceptible to foot and root rots in wet soils, grey moulds, pelargonium rust and and a virus
Get involved
The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.