Types Of Geraniums, Growing Geraniums On The Windowsill, Balcony And In The Garden (part 1)

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Pelargonium - "crane nose"

Real

geraniums grow exclusively in gardens, in meadows and glades, on forest edges. They are often called "scarlet flower" for their bright graceful flowers. If you bring and plant meadow, marsh, Himalayan and other wild species of geraniums in the garden, they will wonderfully decorate the garden, filling the pause in the flowering of perennials from late tulips to irises and peonies.

At the end of flowering, flower stalks with seeds are cut off, placed on the ground where geraniums do not yet grow, and trimmed bushes will again become compact and will decorate the garden until winter. In autumn, their foliage is painted in reddish tones. There are also varietal garden geraniums, very elegant, with carved leaves and a spherical bush, blooming for a long time. But a separate story is needed about them.

"Geranium"- so in the old days in Russia they called the most ordinary geranium, blooming in scarlet color on almost every windowsill. The name

"crane nose", or

crane "stuck" to the plant because of the shape of the flower column, which, after pollination, grows and becomes similar to the beak of a crane. Even the ancient Greeks noticed this similarity and named the plant pelargos, which translates as “crane”.

Botanists all over the world know it as

Pelargonium, or

Pelargonium, of the Geranium family. This unpretentious and beautifully flowering plant is widely known, it comes from South Africa.

The genus Pelargonium is the most extensive in the family, including about 250 species.

In the 19th century, geranium-pelargonium was the most common inhabitant of windowsills in poor houses. In the novel by I. A. Goncharov "Oblomov" you can find a description of the provincial life of the quiet Vyborg side: "… a muslin curtain will move and an official will look out from behind the hentai …". This "bullshit" and the muslin curtain will become the symbol of "philistine" Petersburg for a long time. In the 20s of the last century, the poet N. A. Agnivtsev recalled:

In fact, pelargonium is no worse than other indoor plants, and there is nothing bourgeois in it, as in the notorious ficus, there is nothing. Since these and other indoor flowers in the 18th century were able to settle in houses that were built with larger windows than in the old days, they brightened up the long cold months in the northern regions with their green foliage and bright or modest flowers. Another thing is that at the beginning of the last century, the age-old way of life collapsed, and the comfort of dwellings was not part of the task - "… to the ground, and then …". Nevertheless, pelargonium survived and still pleases us with its fiery red, white, pink, orange, purple caps of large flowers on strong bushes.

Types and varieties of pelargonium

Already in the 19th century, more than 1000 varieties of various pelargoniums were created. To orientate gardeners in this abundance, a classification of species, varieties and forms was necessary. At the end of the 19th century, the Russian botanist N. A. Gartvis proposed to divide pelargoniums, depending on their origin, biological and decorative properties, into five groups:

zonal, large-flowered, ivy, fragrant, succulent.

Over the centuries of selection, a great many magnificent varieties have been created, for every taste, including miniature and dwarf ones.

Grades group

Irene have semi-double flowers; group

Deacon - small terry. In the varieties of the Rosebud group,

flowers resemble roses, in

Cactus- narrow twisted petals. There are species and varieties of decorative deciduous pelargoniums:

capitate pelargonium (Pelargonium capitatum),

curly pelargonium (Pelargonium crispum),

felt pelargonium (Pelargonium tomentosum),

strong-smelling pelargonium, or

fragrant grave (Pelnsargonium). There are types and varieties with colored, carved leaves and different aromas. Among the fragrant pelargoniums there are types and varieties with the aroma of verbena, anise, rose, lemon and apple, nutmeg, pepper, sandalwood. About 100 species, varieties and forms of fragrant pelargonium are known.

Pelargoniums are so diverse and beautiful that you can only decorate your home, garden, terrace, balcony with plants of this kind and get a lot of pleasure, improve your health.

In the 19th century, Petersburgers loved their pets so much that sometimes they were unable to part with them and brought them to their dacha, to nature itself. The writers of those times testified to this more than once: “… a large boat, loaded with flowers and trees in tubs, was floating down the river: the summer residents were transported from the exhibition or were leaving; greenery, a dark column, without swaying, was reflected in the water … "(ND Khvoshchinskaya." After the flood ", 1881.)

Requirements for conditions of detention

What does Pelargonium love, this southerner from the Cape of Good Hope, and how to create better conditions for her? Most often in our homes lives

pelargonium zonal (Pelargonium hortorum) with a characteristic horseshoe pattern on the dark leaves. The group of these pelargoniums has more than 1000 varieties; there are hybrid forms and mutants. This group also includes variegated varieties, the selection of which is aimed at obtaining the most decorative leaves. Their color is incredibly bright - yellow, bronze, white, silver, there are two-color and even three-color varieties with alternating contrasting colors in concentric and sectoral patterns. Such plants are readily used in carpet flower beds.

It is photophilous, easily tolerates dry room air, is rather drought-resistant, needs good nutrition and light soils. These features allow pelargoniums to live in the summer on balconies, even southern ones, and open ground flower beds. In Western Europe, it is the most popular plant for outdoor decoration of windows and balconies. One-color varieties look very stylish, especially red-flowered against the background of light, grayish walls of houses.

Reproduction of pelargonium

Cuttings. Geraniums of different types are propagated using the same technology. Young plants from cuttings, which are annually cut and rooted in water or in pots with light sandy soil, develop better and bloom profusely, even without traditional shelter. For cuttings, plant tops with close internodes and lateral shoots with 3-4 developed internodes, as well as medium grades of non-lignified shoots with 2-3 internodes, are used. The cut is made with a sharp, clean knife 0.5 cm below the leaf node. The lower leaves are removed, leaving the apical leaves, pluck out the inflorescences.

Before planting, the sections are treated with charcoal powder. A mixture for planting cuttings is prepared in two layers: the bottom layer on top of the drainage is made of disinfected sod earth and sand 6-7 cm thick, the top layer 3-4 cm thick is made of washed and calcined sand or pure perlite. At the bottom of the container, drainage must be laid from pieces of foam or expanded clay, broken shards. The mixture is spilled with water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate, the prepared cuttings are compacted and planted to a depth of 2-3 cm, pressed tightly and not watered for the first 2-3 days. As the substrate dries, moderate watering begins.

Place boxes or pots in a bright place at a temperature of + 18 … + 22 ° C, shade from direct sun until rooting. Cuttings take root within 3-4 weeks. During this time, some of the leaves turn yellow, they must be carefully cut off, leaving part of the petiole on the stem. Tearing off leaves can lead to the formation of a wound on the stem, infection of the plant and even its death.

Another rooting option is that cut cuttings are immediately put into water, like a bouquet, they root well there, but some of them die from stem rot. With a large number of cuttings cut in the fall before the flowers return to the house from the garden, balcony, or in February when the queen cells are taken, this is not a problem.

Rooted cuttings from the box are planted one at a time in pots with fresh nutrient mixture with a good addition of sand, gravel or perlite, vermiculite for looseness and air permeability. Drainage is poured onto the bottom of the pot, sprinkle with a ready-made mixture, add a pinch of granules or 1-2 capsules of long-acting AVA complex fertilizer, add soil again, put a stalk, straighten the roots, add soil, gently squeeze it around the stalk so that it stands upright and holds in a pot. The watered plant is placed in partial shade and kept there for several days until it starts to grow (young leaves appear). Then pelargonium is placed in the bright light that it needs for abundant flowering. A young plant can be pinched to induce tillering of the shoots, at the ends of which inflorescences are formed. If you do not use long-acting AVA fertilizers that feed the plants for at least two seasons, you will have to feed pelargonium every 7-10 days with full fertilizer for flowering plants (Uniflor-bud, Kemira, etc.) If the growth of the bush is insufficient, they additionally feed nitrogen fertilizers or Uniflor-growth (1 cap per 2 liters of water), a weak organic solution.

Growing from seeds. In recent years, many varieties of pelargonium have been created, which are grown from seeds. They are sown from September to April. This requires additional illumination of the seedlings. The sowing mixture should be loose, moisture and air permeable, and disinfected. Crops are kept under cover at a temperature of + 18 … + 22 ° C. Shoots appear in 8-10 days. By spraying, maintain a constant moderate moisture content of the substrate. To prevent fungal infections, a solution of fungicidal preparations is used - both in crops and before picking seedlings.

From sowing to flowering pelargonium from seeds takes 140-150 days, when the bushes will build up a good vegetative mass. It should be noted that the flowering of plants from rooted cuttings begins in 1-1.5 months - the buds develop already during the rooting of cuttings.

The end follows

Elena Kuzmina, Pushkin

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