All about geranium

A favorite of many gardeners and gardeners, geranium is a rather unpretentious plant and is perfect for cultivation in the climate of the middle zone. With the help of its lush bushes with spreading caps, you can fill large areas of empty land in a short time and improve the site. In order for geraniums to indulge in abundant flowering, to bloom in time, you should familiarize yourself with the important rules for caring for it.

Geranium is a perennial (in rare cases annual or biennial) plant of the Geraniev family. Garden geranium is often confused with room geranium. But pelargonium is a different kind of geranium. This confusion appeared due to the fact that Karl Linnaeus made an erroneous description of plants, combining them into one genus.

There are a large number of species of this flower (about 400). The birthplace of perennial geraniums is England. The regions of the Mediterranean Sea, Belarus, the mountains of the Caucasus and Central Asia, Siberia and the Far East are the places where this flower is found in the wild. Street geraniums are undemanding and grow in temperate regions. Due to its unpretentiousness, its cultivation does not cause much trouble. Frosty winters and hot summers are not terrible for her. Thanks to all this, street geranium grows on any soil and looks beautiful for a long time.

Previously, gardeners did not really like garden geraniums because of their small flowers and very delicate leaves. But thanks to frost resistance, unpretentiousness and how beautiful it looks among other representatives of the flora, they began to use it in the landscape improvement of the personal plot.

As noted above, the common perennial geranium has about 400 species. But we will consider only the most common of them.

• Gorgeous. Luxurious shrub with solid blue flowers, which has a height of 40-60 cm. Leaves turn red in autumn. Thanks to this, even after the end of flowering, this variety looks beautiful, majestic.

• Swamp... Shrub about 30–70 cm high with purple flowers. Can be found in wet meadows, forests, swampy areas. In medicine, it is valued for normalizing the heart rate, helping to improve hearing. Also helps with rheumatism, urolithiasis, various colic and other diseases.

• Himalayan... Grows in the Himalayas, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Tibet. A beautiful shrub with blue or purple flowers and a height of 60 cm. Leaves turn orange in autumn. The peculiarity of the variety is that it grows slowly.

• Ash... It is often called gray because of the color of the leaves. It is a very compact (no higher than 15 cm) evergreen with small pink flowers and petals, on which you can see dark veins.

• Meadow... Differs in high growth. Light-loving plant with a large number of large lilac-blue flowers. Honey bees especially love her.

• Lesnaya... Tall bush (about 80 cm) with large purple-pink flowers. Loves partial shade.

• Georgian... It is not for nothing that it is considered the most beautiful and fragrant variety. It is widespread in the meadows of the Caucasus. A plant with purple flowers can be up to 70-80 cm high.In autumn, the leaves change color, turn reddish. You can safely not replant this variety for 10-12 years and enjoy the spectacular decor of a flower bed or lawn, mixborder.

• Red-Brown... In England, this variety is popularly called the "mourning widow". It has small dark brown-red flowers with a wavy edge and impressive gray leaves, on which in the middle of summer you can see a beautiful pattern of unusually manifested purple veins.

• Bloody Red. Throughout the summer, you can enjoy the red flowers on a spherical small bush. The British gave it another name - "red stork". Infusions, decoctions, extracts and extracts from blood-red geranium are widely used in folk medicine for the treatment of various diseases.

• Armenian... Tall (1.20 m) vigorous plant with leaves that change color regularly (this is determined by the season) and medium-sized raspberry flowers.

• Balkan... It has a shape resembling a ball, large green leaves (which, in the absence of severe cold weather, retain their green color) and pink flowers with purple or red hues. It grows in any, even the most difficult, climatic conditions. Geranium roots are used in cooking.

Geranium is both decoration and protection of your summer cottage from weeds, drying out of the soil. It is not difficult to cultivate it outdoors, the main thing is to follow some rules that will help avoid diseases and create a spectacular flower garden.

The beginning of spring (after the end of the cold weather) and the beginning of autumn are the perfect time to plant beautiful flowers. It is advisable to transplant in the morning or evening to avoid bright sunlight.

Geraniums are planted in fertile soil without stagnant water, as this can lead to a dangerous disease - root rot. If the soil has a high clay content, then drainage should be used when planting.

The best option is seedlings. But for planting, you can also use seed and even rhizomes.

For success in breeding, it is important to properly plant the crop in a permanent place initially. Grown geranium is characterized by elongated rhizomes and peripheral shoots. That is why, when planting, it is required to prepare a hole of sufficient depth.

Drainage must be placed at the bottom of the pit.... A mixture of peat soil, compost and screenings is placed on top of it. When the flower is planted as a result, it must be shed well and a clod of earth must be mulched. Since the plant is characterized by significant and rapid growth, during planting, the holes must be placed at a considerable distance from each other.

In order for the geranium growing on the street to delight you for a long time, to bloom perfectly, you need to properly care for it. The secrets of experienced gardeners will help you with this.

1. The plant needs to be watered frequently, but not too abundantly. If the leaves suddenly began to drop, then this means that the flower needs liquid. Too much watering can lead to root rot and even stop flowering. Do not moisturize flowers during sunny times. It is better to do this in the morning or after 17-00.
2. Mulching and loosening will help grow beautiful geraniums. This will allow air and nutrients to flow better to the roots.
3. Adding soil. When the bush gradually begins to grow, it will be necessary to update the ground under it. It is better to do this in the fall, after flowering.
4. Pruning... It has a rejuvenating effect on the plant and prolongs flowering. You need to cut off yellowed dry leaves, broken stems, dried buds. So the plant saves energy for dropping sick or obsolete parts.
5. Top dressing... Geranium does not need constant fertilization. In the spring, you can feed it with nitrogen mixtures, and potassium-phosphorus supplements are needed for more lush flowering and the duration of the season. Fertilizers are applied to the soil in the form of granules or solution. The flower also loves if ash is added to the top dressing.
6. Transfer... Geraniums are perfectly capable of surviving a transplant, but this is often not worth doing. Growing up in a permanent area without a transplant is normal for her.

Dividing a bush, grafting, seeds and self-seeding are four ways that you can increase the number of plantings of your favorite plant in the country. It is worth familiarizing yourself with them in more detail.

1. Self seeding - the seeds of the plant scatter from the independently opened geranium fruits. The wind and ants help spread the seeds over long distances. The only drawback is that due to self-seeding, the site will not acquire the design that you wanted to get. Interestingly, geranium seeds look like the nose of a crane.
2. Cuttings Is the most popular way. It is necessary to cut off the upper processes, put them in a container with water and wait for the roots to appear. To speed up the process, you can use a growth activator. A processed cutting can be planted immediately in the ground, and unprocessed cuttings can be planted in at least two weeks.
3. Seeds geraniums are very small. To collect them with high quality, you need to find buds that fade, wrap them in thick cloth or paper. After planting in the ground, the first shoots will appear in two weeks.
4. Division of the bush. It is good to spend in the first decade of autumn. You need to take a small part of the plant, plant it in the ground, water and cover. This method of reproduction has a rejuvenating effect on the plant.

Geranium has a wonderful property - it repels insects that can harm it. But sometimes this green "fighter" is still exposed to diseases and pests.

• Gray rot. The whole plant is covered with gray-gray spots and bloom. It occurs due to high humidity, lack of lighting and lack of heating. For treatment, you need to use fungicides.
• Powdery mildew... It is characterized by a white bloom. It is necessary to remove the affected areas and treat with a fungicide (Bordeaux liquid).
• Rust... Brown-rusty spots appear on the leaves. In the future, the leaves dry out. Fungicides will help get rid of rust.
• Alternaria... Brown spots appear on the leaves of geraniums with a light center and a velvet bloom. You can get rid of it by treating the plant with fungicides.
• Ring spot. Light spots in the form of a ring are formed on the plant. Then the leaves roll up and hang like umbrellas.
• Verticillary wilting. The leaves begin to turn yellow from below, then turn completely yellow and wither. Stems and inflorescences can also be affected. The disease appears if the soil is overdried.
• Root and stem late blight. Due to this disease, the plant withers and rots. It is necessary to reduce the amount of watering and treat the flower with special means.
• Edema... It is characterized by the appearance of bubbles on the leaves. It is necessary to immediately remove the sick so that the disease does not spread to the whole plant. To avoid the appearance of such a disease, the flower is planted in warm, drained soil. Moisture-loving neighbors are not suitable for geraniums.

The main pests of the flower are:

• aphids (ash infusion - 1 spoon of wood ash per 1 liter of water - used to combat it);
• whitefly;
• thrips;
• caterpillars (they are collected by hand);
• spider mite (it appears if geranium grows in a dry and hot climate; to get rid of the spider mite, the plant is treated with soapy water).

Geranium can get sick due to improper care:

• the leaves turned yellow and became withered - this is facilitated by the violation of the irrigation regime;
• the stems are bare - the plant does not have enough light;
• spots appear and the flower begins to rot - due to a fungal infection.

This beautiful flower is successfully used in the decoration of plots, requiring no special effort to grow. Most often used for framing or creating a gorgeous backdrop. Geranium will quickly and beautifully fill empty spaces in the flower garden, decorate decorative masonry, and take pride of place on an alpine slide. You can make a hedge out of it, it looks good among the bushes. Due to its endurance, the flower can grow in all problem areas of the summer cottage. If your site is with a slope, then geranium will help here, as it has very strong and strong roots.

Where to plant geraniums in the country? First you need to decide on the place and neighbors in the flower bed. When choosing neighbors, it is important to consider how they will be combined in color and structure. Due to the large number of openwork foliage, the culture looks great with large flowers (peonies, roses).

If you want to see the forest edge in a suburban area - plant your pet in the company of thyme, catnip or cereals. In semi-shady areas, the mountain goat and hellebore will be good neighbors, and in areas with an abundance of sun - Veronica and sage.

Would you like to have a beautiful floral finish? You will be helped by:

• dalmatian;
• Wallich;
• cantabrian.

Geraniums for rockery:

• blood red (undersized varieties);
• Himalayas;
• Balkan.

Geraniums for the natural area of ​​the garden:

• forest;
• Oxford (except terry varieties);
• geranium Andrews.

Geraniums for mixed flower beds:

• Wallich;
• Himalayas;
• cantabrian;
• Georgian;
• geranium of Armenia;
• swamp;
• Oxford.

Geraniums, roses and lilies will create a pleasant dreamy atmosphere. They will ideally decorate an open terrace, a gazebo or an entrance area of ​​a private house.

Geraniums for sunny areas (in most cases, low-growing geraniums):

• Dalmatian;
• ash geranium;
• geranium St Ola Cambridge;
• geranium of the Himalayas;
• Valikha (will delight with abundant flowering);
• Renard;
• Farrera.

Geraniums for semi-shady areas:

• gorgeous;
• forest;
• bloody.

There are a great many varieties of geraniums. You can find the optimal ones for a variety of characteristics: height, color, color of leaves, duration and time of flowering. Geranium is good because it can look great, even if it is planted singly on the site, and also effectively emphasize a variety of color combinations and compositions of alpine slides, ponds, grounds.

Experiment with color mixes and textures. You can get the most unusual combinations. The main advantage of the plant is the long flowering period.... Geranium will delight with its splendor, even when the beds and flower beds are already hopelessly empty at the end of the summer season.

All about breeding geraniums at home, see the video below.