Try a Smelly Peli
I suppose I should leave this item to our peli expert Julie, as although I grow scented-leaf pelargoniums I must say I’m not always impressed and I leave most of the work with them to my wife Barbara. What smells so stunning to some people, often smells something different to me, in fact not so much sniffy but iffy. Anyway from my own experiences and from some books I have read I have put this article together. There are a dozen species and well over 100 different named varieties of scented-leaf pelargoniums. Many have been cultivated for centuries almost exclusively for their novel foliage, which not only smells of something, but is also very attractive. Some leaves are fine and deeply cut, some oak leaf shaped, while others are rounded like the classic pelargonium shaped leaves. The species Pelargonium odorissimum has foliage with an apple scent, P. grossularoides smells of coconut, and P. graveolens is rose scented. There are also varieties with cinnamon, ginger or citrus scented leaves, and one which we tried called Royal Oak to me smelled of turpentine and quickly went to pelargonium heaven. I have been told the best lemon-scented one you'll find is called 'Mabel Grey', and if you put a leaf of this variety in the base of a lemon cake it will improve the flavour! Scented-leaf pelargoniums will do well in any warm, dry soil, but you must dead-head them regularly, then they'll go on flowering right through the summer. Some that we grow or have been told about or are recommended in some of the books are, 'Pink Capricorn' which has grey-green foliage, with a lemon-rose scent, and really good pink flowers. 'Chocolate Peppermint' which has bright green leaves marked with brown in the centre, a peppermint scent and pale mauve flowers. "'Lady Plymouth' has lovely foliage with small, divided and variegated leaves and pale, rose-colored flowers veined with purple. Then there's P. 'Fragrans Variegatum' which makes a bushy plant with pine scented, variegated foliage, and clusters of white flowers." A couple for hanging baskets are, 'Lillian Pottinger' which is a compact, bushy plant and has white flowers, and 'Old Spice' which is similar with white flowers and a nice spicy scent. ‘Radula' is said to have a smell of Turkish Delight, but to me it smelt like talcum powder. A couple from America are 'Body's Peppermint' which has white flowers coloured with a hint of mauve, and a minty scent; and 'Charity'. This has yellow-green foliage and an orangy scent. 'Atomic Snowflake' grows like mad! We grew one last year and it took over the pot it was in. One we tried a couple of years ago was 'Bitter Lemon' which has unusual fresh lemon scent. We unfortunately lost it, and I have not seen it since. One called 'Lady Scarborough' is said to smell like Refresher sweets, that’s if your old like me and can remember what refreshers smelt like. As I said some are more iffy than sniffy and I’ve had ones that smelled of moth balls and some had smells I dare not mention on the web. One called 'Giant Oak' is said to be so horrid by a book I have read so I’m not going to even try it. Anyway it’s up to the individual for their likes and dislikes. A few are illustrated below. |
