Among the post popular flowering plants, geraniums can be grown indoors in pots or outside in hanging baskets, planters, window boxes and the ground itself. Common geraniums are actually correctly called pelargonia; true geraniums include wildflowers and herbaceous perennials such as pineapple geranium or lemon geranium that can be used in cooking.
By Esmee McCornall
The most common varieties of geranium are:
Garden Geraniums (Pelargonium x hortorum): Compact plants used in flowerbeds, these often have fancy leaves marked by dark pigments in distinctive patterns. They can also have tri-colored leaves or leaves with silver or white markings. Blossoms are clustered into heads and may be either single or double, ranging in color from white through pale pink to darkest red.
Martha Washington (Pelargonium x domesticum): This geranium variety is frequently as a flowering potted plant during winter months. This variety does not tolerate heat and does not grow as easily outside as does the common geranium.
Ivy-Leaved Geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum): These have smooth, leathery leaves and flowers with narrower petals and less dense flower heads and tend to grow in a vine-like mode. Looks wonderful in hanging baskets, where it may spill over the container by three feet.
Scented-Leaved Geraniums (Pelargonium graveolens): These include rose-scented, lemon-scented, nutmeg-scented, apple-scented and peppermint-scented plants. Wonderfully fragrant, the scented geraniums have numerous foliage types and make excellent houseplants as well as well as lovely additions to an herbaceous border.
Mosquito Geraniums – A scented pelargonium, this plant has genetic material coded to produce a citronella smell, known to repel mosquitoes. Mosquito-repelling advertising claims for this plant have not been tested, but it does grow well in most gardens.
Plant geraniums outside after all danger of frost has passed, preferably in location where they will receive at least six-to-eight hours of sun. While they will grow in shadier areas, geraniums don’t flower well in shade and are more susceptible to disease there than in sun. They like good air circulation but need to be protected from winds strong enough to break their branches.
When grown in very wet and humid conditions or over watered, geraniums can develop a fungus called Botrytis cinerea, which appears as a fuzzy gray growth on leaves and new flower buds. Without proper treatment, these lesions will grow until they rot entire stems of the plants, turning flowers brown and causing them to drop prematurely.
By Esmee McCornall
The most common varieties of geranium are:
Garden Geraniums (Pelargonium x hortorum): Compact plants used in flowerbeds, these often have fancy leaves marked by dark pigments in distinctive patterns. They can also have tri-colored leaves or leaves with silver or white markings. Blossoms are clustered into heads and may be either single or double, ranging in color from white through pale pink to darkest red.
Martha Washington (Pelargonium x domesticum): This geranium variety is frequently as a flowering potted plant during winter months. This variety does not tolerate heat and does not grow as easily outside as does the common geranium.
Ivy-Leaved Geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum): These have smooth, leathery leaves and flowers with narrower petals and less dense flower heads and tend to grow in a vine-like mode. Looks wonderful in hanging baskets, where it may spill over the container by three feet.
Scented-Leaved Geraniums (Pelargonium graveolens): These include rose-scented, lemon-scented, nutmeg-scented, apple-scented and peppermint-scented plants. Wonderfully fragrant, the scented geraniums have numerous foliage types and make excellent houseplants as well as well as lovely additions to an herbaceous border.
Mosquito Geraniums – A scented pelargonium, this plant has genetic material coded to produce a citronella smell, known to repel mosquitoes. Mosquito-repelling advertising claims for this plant have not been tested, but it does grow well in most gardens.
Plant geraniums outside after all danger of frost has passed, preferably in location where they will receive at least six-to-eight hours of sun. While they will grow in shadier areas, geraniums don’t flower well in shade and are more susceptible to disease there than in sun. They like good air circulation but need to be protected from winds strong enough to break their branches.
When grown in very wet and humid conditions or over watered, geraniums can develop a fungus called Botrytis cinerea, which appears as a fuzzy gray growth on leaves and new flower buds. Without proper treatment, these lesions will grow until they rot entire stems of the plants, turning flowers brown and causing them to drop prematurely.
A Geraniums 'how-to' - the Varieties and Where They Work Best in your Garden
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