Holidays in your own floral paradise

Who needs crowded airports, lost luggage and big hotel bills! A no-fuss staycation has become the holiday of choice for many Brits, for whom their home is their castle and their front garden heaven. And when the sun is shining, where is more beautiful than Britain, with our glorious countryside, woodland walkways and coastal paths.

This glorious time of year offers a wonderful opportunity to beautify your balcony, patio or garden, to get you in the holiday spirit, even if you’re going nowhere near Easyjet or the Channel Tunnel. The experts at Pelargonium for Europe (PfE), have an abundance of ideas and inspiration about how to make an oasis of calm and floral splendour on your home turf, all featuring easy-care geraniums – the ideal choice of plant if you want maximum blooms for minimal effort!

Mediterranean mood with geraniums

The very sight of geraniums conjures up a holiday mood. This is hardly surprising, as these bedding and balcony flowers are widespread in the sun-kissed regions of southern Europe. Thanks to their South African origins, they can withstand intense midday sun. Even extreme heat and temporary drought won’t affect geraniums. In combination with other sun and heat-loving plants such as palms or lemon trees, they conjure up a Mediterranean feel that rivals any holiday destination in the south.

To create a real holiday haven in your garden, or on your balcony or terrace, you might need more than just flowering geraniums, but you don’t have to break the bank. Items such as rattan furniture, raffia accessories, colourful cushions and cosy blankets are essential ingredients for a relaxed, boho outdoor living area. Add a private pool to the mix (we’ve all got to dream!) and you have perfect holiday bliss.

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Bohemian Spirit

Those who prefer to spend the best time of the year at home often invest a lot of time and love in the design of their personal surroundings. Homemade pieces of furniture and planters are more than just decoration. They make your outdoor area unique and create an inviting and cosy atmosphere. The best thing about it: you can design everything exactly to your own taste.

Cut geraniums, placed in vases on a shelf or in a handmade wall display, provide an extra dose of floral magic. The latter looks sophisticated, yet is really straightforward to make. Simply attach test tubes to circular marble discs with hot glue, fill the tubes with water, place cut geraniums in them and attach the whole thing to the wall using special plate hangers.

Cutting or picking flowers is no problem for geraniums. Instead, it encourages the plants to produce more blooms.

Left: In shades of red and with alternative styling, this version of the covered bench has a completely different look. It’s worth getting creative!

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Geraniums: big impact, low maintenance

Geraniums are the ideal choice for anyone who prefers to spend sunny summer days relaxing rather than gardening. These plants bloom more abundantly and for longer than almost any other summer flower and are surprisingly undemanding and hardy. Lots of light, regular water and plenty of nutrients are all geraniums need to keep producing new flowers from spring through to autumn.

But what happens to all that beauty if you want to go away for a few days and there’s no one to look after your plants? No problem with geraniums. As the plants can store plenty of moisture in their stems and thick-walled leaves, they can easily manage without water for a few days. But of course, regular watering encourages new flowers to form.

Automatic irrigation systems and window boxes with reservoirs reduce the amount of watering required and ensure your geraniums are kept in the best possible condition, even when you’re away for long periods. Placing geraniums temporarily in the shade also reduces their water requirements. During longer periods of absence, you can also cut geraniums back. Even if their appearance suffers temporarily, after pruning, the plants often grow back even stronger than before.