Pelargonium

Beth's selection of pelargoniums over time has become a collection. Providing a splash of colour and some wonderful leaf textures, shapes and fragrant scents, including that of rose, lemon, peppermint and ginger. Ours are kept in pots for display, with cuttings taken later in the season to overwinter and provide new plants the following year. There are over 250 Pelargonium species, mainly from Africa, with a large concentration in the Cape region of South Africa.

The flowers of Pelargonium are visited by pollinators, especially flies and (in some species) bees, but they are not generally considered to be especially favoured. The leaves are eaten by the larvae of various generalist moths, and at least in southern Europe by the caterpillars of the geranium bronze butterfly (an accidental introduction from southern Africa) where they make cultivation almost unviable without major chemical intervention. The first examples of this butterfly have turned up on our shores in recent years, so it remains to be seen whether climate change will lead to the same issue here.