Ursula Key-Davis is a passionate pelargonium enthusiast who has worked in Fibrex Nurseries, a family business that specializes in pelargoniums, for over 40 years. The extensive pelargonium collection, which comprises over 2,000 species and cultivars, was started by Ursula’s mother, Hazel, in 1958. Ursula bunked off school at the age of 13 to work on the stand at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and was later persuaded by her mother not to go to college. The nursery, based in Warwickshire, is still the UK’s leading pelargonium specialist and has collections of ivy, ferns, begonias, and hardy geraniums. Pelargoniums are often mistakenly called geraniums and are native to South Africa, where more than 250 species grow wild in different habitats. Pelargoniums arrived in the UK in the 17th century and became popular as glasshouse plants. In Victorian times, they were used in bedding schemes and are now classified as zonal pelargoniums. However, the scented-leaved types and the dainty-flowered species pelargoniums are currently in fashion.

According to Sabina Rübe, there are some fascinating species and hybrid plants that produce an abundance of dainty blooms. However, many of these plants are rare, collectible items that are not widely available in nurseries. The flowers come in a variety of colors, ranging from deep purple and maroon to soft cream yellow, and resemble miniature butterflies. Additionally, the foliage can vary significantly, with some being thick and succulent while others appear fine and skeletal. Ursula, a plant enthusiast, recommends a few of her favorite scented-leaf pelargoniums, such as ‘Orsett,’ which has pink flowers with dark markings and a sharp, clean scent, and ‘Grey Lady Plymouth,’ which has silver-gray foliage and mauve-pink blooms. The collection also includes unusual plants like Pelargonium gibbosum, with exceptional yellow-green flowers, and Pelargonium appendiculatum, which has star-like apricot-tinged blooms. Ursula adds that the nursery works with a team of amateur breeders, who offer unique seedlings that commercial plants with breeders’ rights frequently lack.

Pelargoniums are a type of tender perennial plants that can be grown on containers and used as summer bedding plants. They have beautiful flowers that bloom from June until the first frost. According to Ursula, pelargoniums are easy to grow as long as you don’t over-water them. When planting them in pots, use multipurpose compost and feed with high-potash liquid feed every few weeks. Deadhead when needed and cut back by half in September or October before bringing them inside a cool, dry place. Water once or twice over winter only. The pelargonium collection is open to the public between May and September each year. You can choose from various types of pelargoniums such as scented-leaf, species plants, or classic zonal pelargoniums. Pelargoniums are also easy to propagate from cuttings, so your collection will soon fill your greenhouse or conservatory. Fibrex Nurseries offers pelargoniums for sale by mail-order from March to September, but due to high demand, some varieties may be low in stock. Check their website at fibrex.co.uk for more information.

Meet ‘Orsett’, a fragrant variety of pelargonium that boasts beautiful dark pink blooms.

How about this:

Let’s talk about the P. gibbosum, a fascinating plant species that belongs to the genus Sabina Rüber. This intriguing plant has caught the attention of many due to its unique features and characteristics.

Meet Sabina Rüber’s hybrid creation, the P. caffrum ‘Diana’, a truly unique species.

Sabina Rüber on April 9th under the pen name ‘Ardens’.

On May 9th, Sabina Rüber wrote about the scented-leaved plant called ‘Dean’s Delight’.

The P. appendiculatum plant boasts beautiful star-shaped flowers.

Sabina Rüber’s seventh out of nine works is called “Saxifragoides.”