Plant Colour Everywhere This Spring  

For your brightest sun or a mix of sun and shade areas, we assure you that we are absolutely spring-ready. We are planting pelargoniums and genistas now, and we invite you to join us! 

Over the top… 

Pelargonium grandiflorum (large flowered pelargonium) has been cultivated since Victorian times, and it’s easy to see why, as nobody who loves flowers with happy faces can resist them. Over time, many hybrids of these regal plants have been developed, and today we can plant the ‘Elegance’ series with their superb garden performance in a wide range of colours from white to different pinks and even very dark burgundy with large flowers characteristically ‘stained’ with contrasting or complementary hues. This range is highly recommended not only for intricately patterned, spectacular flowers held on sturdy stems, but also for their rippled, dark green, tooth-edged leaves and bushy, yet compact growth habits. Mature size is about 40 cm high with a spread of 100 cm. 

When is bloom time? 

These plants start flowering in August and will continue with repeated flower flushes throughout the summer until autumn. 

Growth tips

Location: Plant them in full sun to light shade (morning sun and afternoon shade is ideal). Use them as filler plants in mixed shrub beds and rockeries. They are also perfect for pots, window boxes and baskets – so, go big on your balcony or patio!  

Soil: The soil must be very welldraining and enriched with compost and bonemeal. Use good-quality potting soil with water retention granules added for plants in containers. 

Water: Pelargoniums are medium to low water users when established well. Allow the soil to dry out between waterings. Always remember that those growing in pots will require more water, but only when the top layer of soil feels dry to the touch. 

Feeding: All pelargoniums need regular feeding. Those in the garden can be fed every six to eight weeks with a slow-release general fertiliser from spring to autumn, while potted plants love a liquid feed every two weeks. 

Climate 

Pelargonium grandiflorum ‘Elegance’ is suitable for tropical, subtropical, temperate and Mediterranean climates and will tolerate cold, but is sensitive to frost. In very frosty climes, it should be treated as a long-flowering annual colour or overwintered in a protected place. They will also survive indoors. 

Yellow for sun

We grow Cytisus racemosus (sweet broom) into bushy specimen plants suitable for pots displayed in the sunniest and hottest spots, and also train them into lovely standard topiaries. Their evergreen, very neat foliage on upright branches arching gently as they mature, allows us to play with them. But, the most valuable feature of this clone, which is vegetatively produced from a species native to the Canary Islands, must be its pealike and fragrant bright yellow flowers which appear in vast quantities in spring! 

This is a plant which will not tax a gardener’s growing skills, having humble requirements: 

• Full sun
• Poor, infertile soil which drains fast
• Low water requirements

If you plan to fill your pots with them, use a high-quality commercial potting soil and ensure they have proper drainage holes. Plants in pots will need regular watering, so do the finger test to check when they are dry before you come running with a watering can.