the cultivar was developed from and organized scientifically by a designed breeding program conducted at the j . p . bartlett company , incorporated . ; 578 boston post road ; sudbury , mass . ; united states of america 01776 . the breeding program combined cultivars from it &# 39 ; s past breeding with other american cultivars . the breeders at j . p . bartlett co ., inc . used ‘ pink expectation ’ and a trial variety ; number ‘ 1192 ,’ in a cultivated area to create ‘ olivia ’. ‘ pink expectation ’ was used as the male plant in this experiment . this flower is a medium salmon color with just a hint of pink . the leaf has a dark green zoning . ‘ pink expectation ’ has a medium growth habit compared to that of the female plant , trial number ‘ 1192 ’. this was more of an experimental plant , as it was never used directly for profit . the flower of ‘ 1192 ’ has more of a light salmon color with a touch of pink to accent the blossom . the leaf was identified as having very light zoning . ‘ olivia &# 39 ; s ’ plant habit is symmetrical with excellent basal as well as a lateral branching habit . by using the male pollen from ‘ pink expectation ’ to pollinate the female ‘ 1192 ’. j . p . bartlett co ., inc came up with the trial number ‘ 1532 ’. for three years trial number ‘ 1532 ’ was carefully watched . after trial number ‘ 1532 ’ proved that it was a stable and true variety , it was given the name ‘ olivia ’. since ‘ olivia ’ has been created there have been no known sports or any other variation of this geranium . ‘ olivia ’ has always remained true to the color , leaf , and overall growth of the plant . this invention is one of the many traditional and unique cultivated geraniums ; pelargonium × hortorum , j . p . bartlett co ., inc . has to offer . the variety has adapted very well to both greenhouse growth and garden performance . however , under the cultivated area ‘ olivia &# 39 ; s ’ growth performance excels . olivia is a large plant with a dense mounded habit . this along with a hi vigor outperforms much of the competition . excellent floriferous flowering and brilliant color makes ‘ olivia ’ enjoyable throughout all of the seasons . the huge blossoms make ‘ olivia ’ a hard plant to miss . the average measured size of a blossom in full sun is between one hundred and one hundred and twenty millimeters . the plant itself is quite large , but it never diminishes how full a plant ‘ olivia ’ is . on average the plant itself can get over 457 . 2 millimeters tall , not including the stem or flower . the free branching nature of ‘ olivia ’ allows the plants girth to grow and flourish . the width of a single plant is measured to be 762 millimeters and growing . the multiple shades of color in the plant separates itself from any other . the semi - double blossom is a medium coral streaking to a pale coral edge . ‘ olivia &# 39 ; s ’ stem is a distinguished bronze , while the leaf produces a unique variation of colors all in its own . ‘ olivia &# 39 ; s ’ standout performance is regarded highly due its excellent growth habit , size , blossom and leaf . accompanying this application is a photographed picture of the plant and its aspects . figure one shows the large , semi - double blossom and the coral color described in the summary . figure two enables us to see the deep green leaf with the darker green zone . figure three shows the overall plant , this is a single plant from a cutting in a four inch pot . the height , width and growth habit are clearly seen here . figure four depicts the stem . the strong bronze color runs through the stem making it one of the unique aspects of the plant . the color of the blossom , leaf and stem are as true as reasonably possible . the cultivar ‘ olivia ’ belongs to the pelargonium × hortorum genus and species . this variety was bred by cross pollination to other varieties of geraniums . the parent plant &# 39 ; s of ‘ olivia ’ are ‘ pink expectation ’ and trial number ‘ 1192 ’, described above . the growth habit of this plant is medium to vigorous . it is a very large , full plant that performs well in both a greenhouse and in a natural environment such as a garden . it will grow more compact under drier conditions but has the ability to be a large and vigorous plant with sufficient water and partial shade . this variety performs remarkably when bearing the natural elements . the blossoms are tolerant to rain , not turning brown and rotting after a clay or so of straight rain . ‘ olivia ’ buds early and is consistent with a larger and longer lasting blossom than many other cultivars . during the winter ‘ olivia ’ has survived in the greenhouse where the temperature is maintained above 50 ° f . ‘ olivia ’ is produced by cuttings from the stock plants . with excellent rooting quality it takes approximately ten to twelve weeks ( depending on climate ) for the cutting to mature into a rooted , full plant . the amount of cuttings a single plant can produce in a six month period is sixteen give or take the climate and demand of product .
this invention is a new and distinct cultivar of a zonal geranium named olivia . with a brilliant array of colors within the plant &# 39 ; s large , full , early blossoming flowers and dark zoned leaves , ‘ olivia ’ is unique stable geranium .