A great-grandmother has watched her geranium grow to 8ft tall after giving it - a daily cup of TEA.
Dilys Price, 72, reckons a morning cup of Tetley Extra Strong Tea is the ultimate plant food for her Appleblossom plant.
The stunning pink-and-orange geranium - which normally grow to 5ft - has now reached the ceiling of her bungalow in Hereford.
She said: ''There's definitely something in those tea leaves - I've never seen such a tall geranium.
''Every morning I make myself a pot of Tetley's tea, have a couple of cups myself then pour the rest on to the plant.
''I've got a couple of other geraniums of exactly the same variety but I never give them tea, only water.
''They're nowhere near the height of this extraordinary variety so it must be those tea leaves - I swear they're the best plant food.
''I have a steady stream of visitors now wanting to see this mighty specimen.
''But I'm going to have to cut it back soon as it's taking over my little home.''
Dilys, who has eight-grandchildren and one great-grandchild, started giving the geranium tea after she bought it as a small pot plant last year.
The retired mental health nurse said: ''It was really cold in my conservatory where the plant was and I thought it needed warming up.
''One day I poured in the last few drops of my tea and within minutes it perked up.
''The next day I gave it some more tea and it went from there.
''Within weeks it had grown higher than the other plants. I was intrigued and kept feeding it tea.''
Geraniums have been popular since the Victorian age and are renowned for their long flowering-period and tolerance to drought.
Anand Gandesha, Tetley marketing manager said:
“The Tetley team were over the moon to hear about Dylis’s geranium. We’ve always known that a delicious cup of Tetley extra strong, which has a fuller flavour, makes peoples’ days a little bit better, and we’re glad to hear that Dylis’s geranium has experienced the benefits too.”
