What's eating my pelargonium 'occold shield'?

Pelargonium 'Occold Shield', a fancy-leaf zonal type, faces aphids as its most frequent pest, attacking soft shoots and flower heads. Caterpillars, whitefly, and vine weevil in containers are secondary threats. Its characteristic pelargonium aroma tends to deter deer and rabbits in mixed garden settings.

Dense colonies on shoot tips and flower buds, leaving honeydew, sooty mould, and distorted new growth. Blast off with water; apply insecticidal soap or neem oil; introduce or encourage ladybirds.

Irregular holes in leaves and petals; buds and flower stems sometimes severed by larger larvae. Pick off by hand; apply Bacillus thuringiensis spray; check under leaves and in rolled leaf shelters.

Clouds of tiny white insects on leaf undersides; honeydew and sooty mould on upper leaf surfaces. Use yellow sticky traps; spray with insecticidal soap or pyrethrin; treat repeatedly at 5–7 day intervals.

Larvae destroy roots in containers causing wilting; adults create characteristic u-shaped notches in leaf margins. Apply nematode drenches to container compost in late summer; use preventive vine weevil granule treatments.