Pelargonium Kettlebaston - Regal Geranium

The Pelargonium 'Kettlebaston 'is a variety from the Angel series, renowned for its floribundance. Its delightful small solitary flowers in two shades of pink bring life to an aromatic and evergreen foliage with a lemon fragrance. The two-tone flower is composed of 3 pale pink petals slightly tinged with blue and 2 petals strongly tinted with a purple halo on the same pale pink background. Its medium green foliage is crinkled, undulate, and dentate, emitting a strong citrus scent. Its bushy and upright habit is ideal for flowering pots, providing a permanent decoration outside or in the veranda. Another delightful and easy-to-grow pelargonium that one must protect from frost to find it intact in spring.

Florist's pelargoniums are perennial hybrids from the geranium family, in a large group called Pelargonium x domesticum. They are mostly derived from Pelargonium cucullatum, native to the southwestern Cape Province in South Africa, with the contribution of different wild species. The group of 'Angel' type geraniums, which emerged in the 1930s, brings together plants resulting from various crosses between Pelargonium crispum (with aromatic foliage) and florist's pelargoniums, highly floriferous. The 'Kettlebaston' geranium is part of this group of hybrids. The plant forms a bushy and dense clump with a slightly spreading habit, reaching a medium size of about 50 cm (20in) in height and 40 cm (16in) in width. It produces a mass of single flowers, from June to October. Each flower is composed of two upper petals, purplish with pale pink edges, and three lower petals, pale pink with a slight mauve hue. Its succulent stems bear small lobed and heavily dentate leaves, quite thick, deeply veined, with crinkled edges, in a medium green colour. Their fragrance is reminiscent of lemon.

Florist's geraniums create lasting and cheerful displays throughout the summer. They prefer semi-shaded positions and coolness. These plants tolerate a lack of light quite well, which allows them to be paired with hostas, ferns, impatiens, lobelias with incredible blues, or even begonias. Create magnificent pots and hanging baskets by combining colors and foliage, either solid or variegated. The Kettlebaston variety can be a magnificent specimen in a veranda or in the house throughout the year, especially when colour is scarce in winter.