Geraniums are everywhere in summer and are the UK’s favourite bedding plant and it’s easy to see why! Few other summer flowers bloom so profusely, in such a variety and for such a long time, yet at the same time are so low maintenance.

To keep them blooming well into autumn, the experts at Pelargonium for Europe (PfE) are hand with some tips on how to keep your geraniums blooming at their very best.

Tip 1: Remove dead flowers
Removing faded flower heads will encourage more flowering, as it prevents the geraniums from putting energy into forming seeds. They prefer to invest the energy they save into producing new flowers which fill your garden with colour for longer. If you are short of time, look for self-cleaning geranium varieties in your garden centre as they don’t need deadheading and they shed wilted flowers of their own accord.

Tip 2: Fertilise and feed
If your pelargoniums and geraniums only have a few flowers, this may be due to a lack of nutrients. As 'greedy' plants, they have a high nutrient requirement. If you didn't use a slow-release fertiliser when planting, the reserves in the potting compost will be depleted after four to six weeks and you should start fertilising. To fertilise, either mix a commercial liquid fertiliser for flowering plants into the water once a week or insert fertiliser sticks into the soil. These will keep your plants blooming for about two to three months.

Tip 3: Position in the sun
Geraniums are light-loving flowering plants. The more sun they get, the more abundant the flowers will be. If flowers start to decline or don’t appear at all, check the position where they are planted or placed in your home.  Is your geranium getting enough light or is it in shade? If so, simply move your geraniums to a sunnier spot in the garden or place them on a windowsill.

Tip 4: Space them out
Geraniums grow quickly and need sufficient space. We recommend that they are planted in four to five litres of soil to develop and flower properly. If planted in a container and the space has become too small for your plants, we recommend repotting. As a guide: a 60cm x 20cm balcony box can hold a maximum of three geraniums, and a 100cm box can hold four to five plants. A pot for a single geranium should have a diameter of 20-25cm and be at least 18cm high.

Tip: Alternating trailing and upright geraniums in a container gives the plants more space to develop freely.

Detailed advice on all aspects of geranium care is available at specialist retailers.

Reproduction is free of charge with the credit "Pelargonium for Europe". Further texts and images can be found at www.meine-geranien.de.

Pelargonium for Europe
Pelargonium for Europe is the marketing initiative of the European geranium growers Dümmen Orange, Elsner PAC, Florensis / P. van der Haak Handelskwekerij, Geranien Endisch, Selecta One and Syngenta Flowers. The initiative was founded in 2016 to promote geranium sales in Europe and secure them in the long term. The campaign now runs in 22 countries. In Germany, Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, the marketing activities are supported by the EU as part of the "Europe in Bloom" campaign.
 
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Cassie King
Hornby Whitefoot PR
Email: cassie@hornbywhitefootpr.co.uk
Phone: 07875 337290
Website: www.pelargoniumforeurope.com