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Geranium Patricia Issues

Alfie_Alfie_ Posts: 456
edited July 2023 in Problem solving
Hi,

Can anyone help me with this geranium. New this year as a small potted plant. Potting it on until it gets to a good size. It has got bigger but is suffering - leaves are changing colour and shrivelling up. Compost is definitely damp and the quality of the compost in the pot is very good so can't quite work out why? If the soil is damp maybe too damp? I don't tend to water hardy geraniums I'm potting on unless the soil feels bone dry. 



Also, how do people find Geranium Rozanne. Mine was new last year and it has surpassed all expectations. This picture below is how it has been for about 6 weeks now and I haven't even deadheaded any flowers. All my other gerniums either have lots of deadheading so a lot less flowers or have had a flush which I have cut back but now just leaves. No other geranium is performing anywhere near this level. It has practically formed a Geranium hedge from 3 plants in one year (it goes on for longer than the photo shows). I guess it did win plant of the century I noticed. Wondered how others find this one? The only small negative point I would make is it spreads so rapidly and is swamping the mid border plants behind so has to be tamed. 



Thanks for any adviced offered on the Patricia. 

Posts

  • bcpathomebcpathome Posts: 1,313
    Yes Roseanne does that ,you almost need a whip and chair to tame it!😁sorry can’t help with the other plant ,can’t see any error you’ve made ,unless I too am missing something.
  • SalixGoldSalixGold Posts: 450
    Rozanne is superb. And in trials shown to be among the best plants for pollinators -  it has such a long season of flowering. It does go wild, so it's worth finding a good, large area for it.  It is sterile (does not produce seed) so does not need deadheading. Its sterility is why it can go on flowering for such a long period.

    With Patricia, I wonder if it is 'bacterial leaf spot'. If so, it would be worth getting rid of the infected plants asap so the disease doesn't spread. Other people here might have more insight on IDing it. 





  • Alfie_Alfie_ Posts: 456
    edited July 2023
    @SalixGold, thanks. That’s really interesting about its sterile nature. Are there any other geraniums as prolific as this that take no break in flowering? I have 15 varieties and none are close to Rozanne. They either free flower (so not prolific) or they are prolific but come in flushes with very long breaks. 

    Yeh a bit gutted with Patricia. May have to sling it. 

    Thanks 
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    edited July 2023
    I've noticed my Rozannes get quite tall which I hadn't quite expected so I've shoved a small obelisk behind the tallest to help support it. They can get big!

    @Alfie, it might just be overwatering. I'd be inclined to cut off the manky leaves, isolate the plant from any other geraniums and  wait to see if it produces new leaves.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • SalixGoldSalixGold Posts: 450
    edited July 2023
    Alfie_ said:
    @SalixGold, thanks. That’s really interesting about its sterile nature. Are there any other geraniums as prolific as this that take no break in flowering? I have 15 varieties and none are close to Rozanne. They either free flower (so not prolific) or they are prolific but come in flushes with very long breaks.

    @Marlorena has written in the past about long flowering, sterile geraniums. Maybe she can comment on others that get close to Rozanne's flowering period. Last year (2021-22) we had a mild winter and it didn't really stop at all. Not sure how to compete with that. They will happily "climb" - that is - you can train them upwards.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    Azure Rush, Ann Folkard and Anne Thomson are three garden worthy geraniums.

    My Patricia is quite a feisty miss so I wonder if your one’s limp performance is due to it being in a pot rather than in the soil. Having some kind bacterial infection could well be a possibility so, as Lizzy 27 suggests, cut it back and see if it mends its ways.

    Giving these geraniums are a hard prune in August smartens them up for late summer into Autumn.
    Rutland, England
  • Alfie_Alfie_ Posts: 456
    Thanks for all the advice. Having looked online it says Patricia, Orion and Dreamland are other notable sterile long flowering geraniums in addition to Rozanne. @BenCotto does your Patricia flower for a long time? 
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