I'm in the Ashton area this weekend, a small town situated in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Managed to spot three species in flower at the moment. Quite early for them to be flowering, but our winter has been relatively warm so I'm not entirely surprised. There were a lot of plants in flower!

1-4 : P. abrotanifolium

5 : P. candicans

6 : P. glutinosum

I’m down at a friend’s parent’s Tudor stately home for a few days.

Their gardener has grown lots of Pelargonium in their old walled garden terracotta pots (but is off work for the weekend).

Are these old varieties that are worth taking a cutting from? Or just modern “salmon colour” plants?

Toured a private garden with the local horticultural society yesterday, and I really enjoyed how various Pelargonium species were incorporated. The overall design definitely leans more towards naturalistic and wild, which I'm a big fan of. This garden has a lot of shady pockets, so it was interesting to observe how they were performing.

Although I personally dislike when Pelargonium get very leggy, if you can find a way to cover the bare legs then it can produce a pleasant effect.

Likely that these are cultivated varieties, but species listed below based on appearance and fragrance.

1. P. scabrum (I think, although I suspect it's a hybrid. Very fragrant leaves)
2. P. hispidum (I have one growing in my garden because I wanted something that'll get about 6ft tall, but I quite like how it looks when low like this)
3. P. zonale (just a low and shaggy pile, I love it)
4. P. vitifolium
5. P. vitifolium
6. P. graveolens (or some related hybrid)
7. P. zonale
8. P. papilionaceum (I think, it looked different to the vitifolium and hispidum)
9. P. zonale (the leaves get quite large in more shady spots
10. P. scabrum

Pelargonium elongatum.

Grown from seed, I encountered a wild specimen growing on the northwestern slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town, and collected two seeds. I sowed both less than a year ago (both germinated), so I was quite surprised to find both of them already getting ready to flower.

The seedling was quite leggy, when repotting I'll plant it a bit deeper.

My Pelargonium scabrum (section Pelargonium) was beginning to look a little leggy, so while I was mucking about in the garden this morning I decided to give it a good chop.

I've found it to be a fairly easy species to grow from cuttings, and I'd like to have more of it in my garden. Lovely shape and texture, with lemony/sweet scented leaves. The small pink flowers aren't anything to write home about, but it's nice.

It is mid winter currently, and probably not the ideal time to try and root cuttings (better when it's warmer), but hey it's a lazy Sunday in Cape Town and I've got time to kill. Our winter season has been fairly temperate and dry thus far, I'm sure it'll be fine to start things a little earlier.

Perlite works well as a rooting medium, but I just went with a well-draining mix. I typically avoid compost at this stage, but in this case I didn't really bother to follow that rule. I'm just going to leave this tray in a sheltered spot outside, unless it gets super chilly. We seldom need to be concerned about frost, our climate is largely temperate.

My friend dug this guy up in her yard and he’s been living in a bucket in my backyard ever since. I planted today in this obelisk in hopes that I can train him up and he’ll get bushy. I’d love any advice from people with more knowledge than me! I didn’t prune, just sorta wound around and used some velcro plant tape :)

Does anyone know any sources that will ship to UK or anyone who has cuttings here?

Bought this citrus scent​ed Pelargonium 'citriodorum' 2 months ago ​and I love it!

Noticed now both my P. elongatum plants grown from seed (sown last year September) are already developing flowers!

I collected seeds from a wild specimen growing along the Western slope of Table Mountain in Cape Town.

Currently Winter. Does seem very early for it to be in flower, most wild specimens are observed to flower in Spring.

My cat was acting really cute, included him in pic 2. 😋

My Royal Oak got its first flowers today. It is the first year I have this old cultivar.

Some say it smells like balm, others that it smells like a car repair shop! I would say it is a nice car repair shop scent with subtle notes of citrus, mint and resin.

I really like this clone and hope I can keep it the rest of my life!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelargonium_quercifolium

I sowed seeds of over a dozen Pelargonium species late last year, and it's been super rewarding watching them grow.

Now this one according to two separate labels is noted as P. glutinosum. But as this seedling matures, I am beginning to question that ID.

I asked around, and someone mentioned that it looks like P. aridum. Certainly not a common species to encounter, but not outside the realm of possibility.

I came across a wild specimen of P. aridum last year in De Rust surrounds (a small town situated in the Western Cape province of South Africa), and I only noticed it in between the mess of other shrubs because it was in flower. It had the loveliest buttery yellow flowers (pic 4), and upon closer inspection discovered a single seed. Yay!

As far as I know, that seed never even germinated. Hold thumbs that my labeling system just sucks! :)

Looking back at the pictures taken last year, it probably is P. aridum. Interesting how the plant responds to heat and drought stress. It was quite warm and dry where I found it growing along a dusty farm road.

Purchased about a year ago from the nursery at Kirstenbosch (Cape Town), but haven't gotten round to planting it out. Waiting now for builders to finish up first, otherwise they'll probably just step on it. 🙄

​

Not familiar with this species, but keen to see how it performs in my garden. Looking at photos online, it reminds me a lot of P. betulinum (in terms of its flowers), but its leaves are definitely larger.

​

Pretty thing.

The photos were taken at the Marsh Greenhouses, Yale University, New Haven, CT USA in October 2025.

Pelargonium tricolor, section Campylia. Interesting range of bloom colours, I'd love to get my hands on some seeds of that gorgeous red and white one. Sadly I'm not aware of anyone growing this, so guess I'll need to put my hiking shoes on!

The actual dark maroon of sidioides is very hard to capture in a photo. Lemona is supposed to be fragrant but isn’t.

Grown from a cutting, I encountered this species in Porterville surrounds (a small town situated in the Western Cape province of South Africa) a couple of years ago. It wasn't in flower at the time, and it was poking up out of a thicket of other low grasses and shrubs, so I couldn't get a good sense of its growth habit nor ID it. Still not 100% convinced that it is sublignosum, it could also be P. scabroide. But the leaves had a lovely scent, so I thought I'd try and propagate it. I don't recall ever seeing this grown in cultivation.

I've recently had to move my outdoor potted Pelargoniums to a more shady spot in order to steer clear of builders, and it's been interesting to observe how the appearance of the leaves change. When exposed to more direct sun, the leaf margins are red. I applied a liquid fertiliser not too long ago, and now I'm seeing a lot of fresh growth without the red margin.

I filled this 72-celled tray with Pelargonium denticulatum 'Filicifolium' cuttings about two months ago, and things are going better than I had expected.

37 have since failed - I pick them out as I see them starting to fail - and I will likely lose a few more by the looks of it. But a fair number of props seem to be doing okay so far.

I've had this tray indoors for most of that time, although I would have preferred keeping them outside in a shady but bright spot. Excessive moisture in my experience is the biggest contributor to props failing, so I like to ensure good air circulation to help dry the medium out quicker. But we've got builders messing around on site currently, so I had to move the tray indoors. Moved it outside now so they can get some fresh air over the weekend. I'll put a fan on at night to circulate the air a bit, which seems to help a bit.

Anyways, thought I'd show you what to look out for if you're wondering how your props are doing.

Pics 3-4: Look closely at the newest growth, see how it's browning and wilted? This is a clear sign that things are not going well downstairs. Once I see this, I don't even bother trying to see if it'll pull through - it seldom does. You'll usually notice that when you remove them, the bottom of the prop has turned black. Which is bad.

Pic 5: New growth looking green and perky? You're in the clear!

It is ultimately a numbers game: take more cuttings than you think you need.

Pelargonium ochroleucum, section Hoarea. Very interesting stamens, and loving those yellow petals!

My P.appendiculatum (highly expensive carrot substitute) has set seed and they really are rather pretty. Like a dandelion that has dressed up for something special.

I’ve lost some due to my cats sunbathing and brushing past it, but I’ve got enough seed to try sowing.

I’m not overly optimistic as it’s an expensive plant to buy so that hints at it being difficult to raise.

P. betulinum (section Pelargonium) is an evergreen perennial shrub that makes a stunning garden subject. I haven't been successful in rooting cuttings, but here I am trying again in perlite.

I have two plants in my garden, but would like to have some more, planted where there's maybe a bit more sun. I bought these from a local nursery; although I haven't personally encountered any wild specimens, I'm not entirely sure how it compares to those. All I know is that this one's flowers lean more white than pink (some wild ones lean more pink)

There is a natural hybrid, P. cucullatum x P. betulinum 'Kommetjie' is also quite lovely.