Our Autumn catalogue for 2018 has officially gone out this week and we’re so excited for our customers to receive it as we have added many new tempting varieties that we just know are going to be popular with many of our keen collectors.
We always strive to bring the very best varieties in our range and this season we’re particularly enthusiastic about our new Regal Pelargonium range. Back in May, we were approached by Kent based long-term breeder Nicola Stemp and her spectacular collection of Regals. We found it really difficult to resist bringing her whole collection back with us but once we composed ourselves, and remembered we need space to put them all, we managed to narrow it down to 10 stunning varieties.
Nicola Stemp
Nicola started breeding Regals in the eighties and her first successful variety was called Queen of Sheba (not the garden pink) which was named after her first Great Dane female (Sheba), the first of many Danes they have owned, shown and bred over the years too… another interest of hers. Since the launch of Queen of Sheba she has gone on to create nearly 100 different varieties.
One of her most prized varieties would have to be Royal Princess which was 1 of only 18 Regals awarded an Award of Garden Merit by the RHS after the 1994 Wisley Trial of Pelargoniums where around 100 different varieties were entered by nurseries and breeders. Five of her other varieties were awarded Certificates of Merit for New Seedlings by the British Pelargonium and Geranium Society. She won a Banksian Medal at one of the RHS London Shows, and also exhibited at Capel Manor BPGS shows for several years, where she won many prizes and cups.
We were so delighted when we got to spend a wonderful morning visiting Nicola and learning more about her background and admiring her many, many Regals. She is always striving for that perfect specimen either in colour, growth habit or flower production, so when she originally approached us with some of her varieties to trial, we just knew we had to incorporate them into our own collection as one can never have to many…. until space runs out of course!
Royal Black Opal
Another variety we’re particularly excited about is Royal Black Opal which is a brand new variety that has only just been released and we’re so honoured to be the first to showcase this magnificent plant. It has super rich, deep dark blooms with big showy flowers and is a good, strong grower. We predict this gem will be a hot seller for sure!
When browsing the new range, you may notice that there is a bit of theme that Nicola uses… most have the prefix ‘Royal’ or refer to a Nobel title of some sort. Again this is due to her love of Great Danes and her breeding programme, all her dogs are named following the same trend. I guess it’s like her signature stamp.
As mentioned earlier, we have added 10 of these stunning plants to our collection all of
A view into one of Nicola’s Greenhouses
which have individual striking features that we feel add great value to our collection and make fantastic show plants so many collectors will be tempted for sure. Regals are slow rooting so when taking cuttings of your own, be mindful of this as patience is key. However when established, they are vigorous growers producing an abundance of large, beautiful blooms all Spring & Summer long. Like most pelargoniums, frequent dead heading and pruning will aid in a more compact, bushy growth habit and continuous flower.
Feeding them with a High Potash plant food will help these plants to flourish as,
Potash (potassium in soluble form) not only produces more flowers and good fruit but also makes plants tougher and resistant to diseases and pests. Pelargoniums grown in too much shade can survive but they will most likely be tall and spindly and will produce smaller, fewer blooms. Their ideal conditions are areas that receive good sunlight exposure and dry air as they can be susceptible to a variety of diseases due to lack of light and moist, cool conditions.
Our full range of Regals can be found on our website along with Angels and Unique Pelargoniums which are of a similar foliage growth habit to that of the Regals but their flowers are a lot smaller with the Angel’s having a more Pansy like appearance. For further information on our Pelargoniums, please get in touch and we will be happy to discuss any queries in further detail either via phone or email. Don’t forget to order your copy of our Autumn Catalogue if you haven’t already.
Wishing all our customers a successful growing season.
The Allwoods Team