Passion for plants brought Tommi and Mikael together—their awe-inspiring pelargonium collection is a sight to behold
Gardener couple Tommi Långström and Mikael Lindholm have hundreds of pelargoniums. Their most beloved specimens occupy prime spots in their garden during summer, while in winter the collection continues to grow inside their greenhouse.
Now, hand on heart: have you ever seen a pelargonium collection as incredible as this? That question inevitably comes to mind when you see the pelargoniums arranged in the garden of Tommi Långström and Mikael Lindholm from Lohja. Each plant’s blossoms and foliage are expertly pruned, and the arrangement is perfectly complemented by the clay pots the flowers rest in.
Currently, Tommi and Mikael’s joint pelargonium collection features around four hundred species, varieties, or strains. Initially, roughly a quarter of them belonged to Tommi and another quarter to Mikael. Over time, they have expanded the collection by about two hundred more, which include not only the most common ones but also older Finnish zonal pelargoniums and rarer wild species.
Their shared pelargonium hobby brought the men together.
The 'Stella Vernante' variety has ornamental, star-like flowers.
Pelargonium zonale grows in the wild in southern Africa.
Most of the year, the couple’s pelargoniums stay in a greenhouse at Saarelman puutarha garden center, just a short walk from their home. In summer, they bring home a selection of the most beautiful and sentimentally valuable specimens. Those that tolerate outdoor conditions thrive in the garden, while the most delicate varieties remain protected on the glass veranda of their home.
Mikael, who works as the head gardener at the Kumpula Botanic Garden, is the more recent of the two to fall in love with pelargoniums, having collected them for just a few years.
Tommi is a third-generation entrepreneur at Saarelman puutarha, and his passion for pelargoniums dates back to his childhood and earlier generations. In fact, his grandparents were selling pelargoniums as early as in the 1950s, which was when they founded Saarelman puutarha in Lohja.
The two first met through their pelargonium hobby about three years ago, when Mikael visited Saarelman puutarha. Mikael brought Tommi a cutting of “Kumpulan Seppo,” and in return Tommi gave him “Antseppä” and “Tuulensuu.”
Later, when they moved in together at Tommi’s place, Mikael worried about where his pelargoniums would go. Fortunately, they found some spare space in an empty building on the property.
“The masonry stove blazed away all winter so that we could keep it warm in there,” Mikael says with a smile.
Today, the garden features a captivating variety of pelargoniums. Perched on an old wooden chest, a Pelargonium trifidum reigns over the whole group, her white floral cloak fluttering wildly in the wind. The ornamental ‘Cherry Cocktail’ and the smallest of the bunch, ‘Br. Lotusland,’ also stand out. Tommi received the latter as a gift from his aunt in Sweden. At one point, its survival was in jeopardy.
“Last winter, it nearly gave up the ghost. But now it’s started to grow again. The smallest varieties are really finicky. If they’re in a cool spot, you must never overwater them, not even once,” Tommi explains.
The 'Cherie Maid' variety has variegated, grayish-green leaves.
Pelargonium laxum, which grows in the wild, photographed at the Saarelman puutarha nursery.
There is also a striking group of pelargoniums in front of the porch of the charming late 19th-century home. Next to a dark-leaved Ethiopian banana, there is a large zonal pelargonium with bluish-red rosettes, known as “Tuulensuu”. It was chosen as Finland’s most beautiful pelargonium two years ago.
“Tuulensuu” holds a special significance in the collection beyond its award-winning success. Eight years ago, when Tommi bought the couple’s current home, he received a pelargonium as a gift from the seller, who was his former teacher. The house was the teacher’s old childhood home, and the gifted pelargonium had been grown there by the lady of the house since at least the 1970s. Tommi named it “Tuulensuu” after the Tuulensuu homestead.
Tommi and Mikael want their pelargoniums to keep growing in winter as well. That’s why they move all of them to the Saarelma greenhouse for overwintering.
Variegated-leaf varieties, in particular, require extra light during the dark season. For instance, the historical variety ‘Freak of Nature,’ with exceptionally little green in its foliage, can be especially demanding.
“If it doesn’t get enough light, it can die,” Mikael says.
Otherwise, pelargoniums are resilient and hardy. However, they dislike excessive moisture. The men note that abundant flowering requires regular fertilizing with a potassium-rich nutrient, and it’s best to start in spring when the amount of light increases.
However, pelargoniums overwintering in a greenhouse under artificial light can bloom year-round, sometimes causing surprising color shifts: pink flowers may turn white, while reds may become orange, they explain.
Pelargoniums belong to the Geraniaceae family, with most originating from South Africa. They cross-breed easily, which has resulted in tens of thousands of varieties. The enormous diversity is also driven by “sports,” or bud mutations, that alter the appearance of the flowers and leaves, giving rise to entirely new varieties.
Zonal pelargoniums have arrived here from both east and west.
Wild species have distinct appearances and growth habits, whereas zonal pelargoniums closely resemble each other. They have all been bred from the same South African Pelargonium zonale species.
Finland hosts many different zonal pelargoniums, with strains arriving from both east and west.
“There’s still plenty of pelargonium enthusiasm in Russia. Some distinct strains have also arrived here as evacuee plants,” Mikael explains.
Tommi and Mikael have observed a surge in pelargonium collecting in recent years, noting it has become quite trendy.
“Traditionally, caring for zonal pelargoniums has been the domain of the lady of the house, but nowadays many men grow them too.”
Since 2020, Natural Resources Institute Finland and the Finnish Pelargonium Society (Suomen Pelargoniyhdistys) have been studying Finnish zonal pelargonium varieties. Saarelman puutarha is also involved in the project and produces seedlings of the strains included in the research.
According to Tommi and Mikael, it has already been discovered that even if two plants produce identically colored flowers—say, light pink—they are not necessarily copies of each other.
Conversely, the same zonal pelargonium may go by different nicknames. Maintaining records of them is crucial, because behind each name, there is a unique story about that plant. The nomenclature itself is also valuable cultural heritage, Mikael notes.
The couple keeps a record of every pelargonium, and every specimen has its own name plate.
Pelargonium cotyledonis is an endemic species from the island of Saint Helena in Africa.
It is almost impossible to identify different pelargonium varieties by sight alone. If you want to be certain about a specific variety, it’s best to get it from a knowledgeable seller who sells named varieties. However, commercial sellers only offer a limited selection, which is why enthusiasts play an important role in preserving strains.
On the other hand, preservation relies on sharing cuttings. For instance, there was a time when Tommi had only two specimens of “Antseppä”, which he had discovered in the village of Nummi, and he was indeed the only one who owned this particular variety.
“I thought, oh no—if something happens to these, we’ll lose the entire pelargonium strain,” Tommi recalls.
Nowadays, “Antseppä” can be found in nearly every enthusiast’s collection.
It's important that people share their own pelargoniums freely, so that we can preserve them for the next generations, says Mikael.
Tuulensuu homestead’s pelargonium marmalade
Ingredients:
- 500 g rhubarb
- 300 g jam sugar
- 0.5 dl water
- 7 leaves from the ‘Attar of Roses’ scented pelargonium
How to make pelargonium marmalade
- Slice the peeled rhubarb into thin pieces. Add the water and heat in a saucepan until steaming. Add the jam sugar and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is smooth.
- Gather the scented pelargonium leaves (with stems) and rinse them lightly. Add the whole leaves to the mixture, stir, and let them steep for a couple of minutes. Once the leaves have softened, lift them out by the stems.
- Allow the finished mixture to settle before spooning it into clean, sterilized jars and close them firmly. Store preferably in a cool place.
Note! The aromatic oils of the leaves dissolve quickly. If you like, you can leave the leaves in the marmalade as well; in this case, remove the stems and finely chop the fresh leaves before adding them to the mixture.
