Comments on: Some Rare-ish Pelargoniums

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 22:40:20 +0000

Great pics Matt!!
I have grown seeds of wild P mollicomum collected in South Africa and they do smell like canned pineapple. Wild P. exhibens, also from section Chorisma, does smell like cheap hands soap). Do you know if one can propagate P mollicomum from tubers? I usually throw away lots of them when I repot the plants. Thanks. Fabian.

By: kintgen

kintgen — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:17:15 +0000

Matt,

great Blog as always. We are doing a Pelargonium display in the Orangery at DBG this spring. We have P. bowkeri and it has been one of the favorites.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:54:00 +0000

Good blog , I found You searching for P.bowkeri ! A favourite now !

Dirk Everaerd

By: Matt Mattus

Matt Mattus — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:42:00 +0000

Thanks Ernie

Funny, I was just listening to a NPR broadcast on accurate research and re-editing on blogs, and I actually thought about the idea that these ‘facts’ may be wrong. Lesson learned, of course….no more quick research on-line!
The P. bowkerii info only came from a fast on-line research to see if I even had the correct plant, and see? Those ‘facts’ which came from a pelargonium site, we’re opposite of the truth. Damn internet! OH, THE WIKIPEDIANESS OF IT ALL!!!
I was questioning the molicomum since the tag was loose in the soil, and may have transferred – I am no expert on Pelargonium! Thanks for the note. I did have a tag for P. laxum, so perhaps…..you are correct.
I would love to learn more about your research, which are your favorites, and why. Email me sometime at [email protected]

Thanks

Matt

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 01 May 2008 06:07:00 +0000

Hi There.
Love your blog, I am very familiar with the pelargoniums you mention. A couple of notes: P. bowkeri is from the eastern Cape and the Natal midlands. I have collected it in the latter area, where it grows in rocky areas among low growing grassy vegetation, in the company of delospermas and other small plants. Generally two clones are needed for good seed set. I do not raise the tubers of mine, it is not a pachycaul plant, in nature the tuberous roots form a network underground but stems die back during the dry and sometimes frosty winter. Foliage is quite lovely, grow it in a larger pot and give good water and fertilizer when growing and see what I mean. I am not sure that the latter is P. mollicomum, this species does not have lacy foliage and the flowe clusters look too large. The pic seems to be one of the Otidia section members, maybe P. laxum. P. mollicomum is a weedy plant that seeds profusely and is a summer grower. It is not ancestral to the hybrid scented pelargonium group, these are mostly members of section Pelargonium and include such species as graveolens, denticulatum, quercefolium, etc. In my graduate work with pelargoniums at Cornell, I made many interspecific crosses and was not successful in making any with mollicomum.
Pelargoniums are truly fascinating, and variable, even within a particular species. Glad you are enjoying them.
Ernie
plantblog: geraniosgarden. blogspot.com