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Monday, March 31, 2008
Heat Tolerant Scented Geraniums For Desert Dwelling Gardeners
Pelargonium ionidiflorum (celery scented geranium) blooms almost nonstop.
Desert dwelling gardeners face a daunting array of problems. Triple digit temperatures, high winds, low humidity all create difficult challenges. Zonal geraniums have a rough time in the Las Vegas summer. What about the scenteds? Good news: Many scented geraniums live happily with our weather extremes.
I thought a list of the most heat tolerant and trouble free would be useful. Everything on this list I have grown for over a year in Southern Nevada. They perform well with only the basic care - no special treatment. (Basic care is defined as water, fertilizer, repotting as needed and half day of sun.) This list is not meant to be definitive and will most certainly grow longer in the future.
Heat Tolerant Scented Geraniums For Desert Gardeners:
- Pelargonium 'Attar of Roses' (rose)
- P. crispum (lemon)
- P. crispum 'Minor' (lemon)
- P. 'Dr. Livingstone' (lemon-rose)
- P. grossularioides (coconut)
- P. limoneum (lemon-lime)
- P. lucaeflora (rose)
- P. ionidiflorum (celery)
- P. 'Mint Scented Rose' (mint)
- P. odoratissimum (apple)
- P. 'Old Scarlet Unique' (pungent)
- P. 'Orange' (orange)
- P. 'Roller's Satinique' (pungent)
- P. 'Sandalwood' (woodsy)
- P. 'Strawberry' (strawberry)
Which worthy, hardworking young scented geraniums will make it to the Heat Tolerant List next? What pitfalls await them? Which scented geraniums have been "deselected" from the List? And why, why, why? You'll read it all here first.
Posted by Dawn Hill at 1:42 AM
Categories: Heat Tolerant, Hot Weather, P. 'Attar of Roses', P. 'Dr. Livingstone', P. 'Mint Scented Rose', P. 'Old Scarlet Unique', P. 'Orange', P. 'Roller's Satinique', P. 'Sandalwood', P. 'Strawberry', P. crispum, P. crispum 'Minor', P. grossularioides, P. ionidiflorum, P. limoneum, P. lucaeflora, P. odoratissimum
Categories: Heat Tolerant, Hot Weather, P. 'Attar of Roses', P. 'Dr. Livingstone', P. 'Mint Scented Rose', P. 'Old Scarlet Unique', P. 'Orange', P. 'Roller's Satinique', P. 'Sandalwood', P. 'Strawberry', P. crispum, P. crispum 'Minor', P. grossularioides, P. ionidiflorum, P. limoneum, P. lucaeflora, P. odoratissimum
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Geranium Blog Set For Wild Gardening Frenzy
A is for Apple Scented Geranium
I'm completely manic with new geranium projects this spring:
- Set up fluorescent light for rooting and seed growing
- Super tough scented geraniums - I'm developing a list of scented geraniums that gardeners in desert cities can count on. Stay tuned for these sizzling recommendations.
- My little online store is now operational. Drop by Sunshine Hill Gardens for scented geranium seeds and cuttings. I've got canna rhizomes, too!
- Scented geranium leaf gallery - 'nuff said.
- In the name of better organization, some of the articles on Scented Geraniums will be moving to the Geranium Blog over the next few days.
- And how about an update on Gracie the Grackle?
- Plus more, more, MORE preying mantids, deformed vegetables, desert tortoise antics, new scented geraniums and lovely pictures.
Pelargonium odoratissimum (apple) is one of the first to bloom each spring.
Posted by Dawn Hill at 1:41 AM
Categories: Cuttings, Desert Tortoise, Foliage, Garden Fun, Grackle, Hot Weather, New Plants, P. odoratissimum, Praying Mantis, Propagation, Seeds
Categories: Cuttings, Desert Tortoise, Foliage, Garden Fun, Grackle, Hot Weather, New Plants, P. odoratissimum, Praying Mantis, Propagation, Seeds
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Lime Scented Geranium Roundup
Pelargonium 'Pink Champagne'
How do the three Limes compare? P. limoneum is the most heat tolerant of the three. P. 'Lime' and P. 'Pink Champagne' dislike those ultra high desert temperatures, however they can be grown successfully in the desert with a little extra shade and close attention to prevent excessive dryness. Tough little Limoneum will lose a few leaves if over dry, but is otherwise hardly effected. It can handle more exposure to direct sun than the other two.
The best bloomer of the Limes is Pink Champagne. In fact, it might be one of the nicest bloomers of all the Pelargoniums! Lime is a very good bloomer as well. Limoneum is cute with smaller hot pink flowers.
All three are well scented, although I think P.'Lime' is a bit stronger than the other two.
Posted by Dawn Hill at 10:07 PM
Categories: Flowers, Growth Habit, Hot Weather, P. 'Lime', P. 'Pink Champagne', P. limoneum
Categories: Flowers, Growth Habit, Hot Weather, P. 'Lime', P. 'Pink Champagne', P. limoneum
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Lemon Scented Geranium Roundup
The flowers of Golden Lemon Crispum are typical of the crispum group.
The lemon scented geraniums generally have nice white flowers with some purple veining. Often the three lower petals are long and narrow, giving the flowers a primitive wildflower look. Spring Park Lemon puts on a showy and long-lasting display.
The leaves of the crispums are all small. This is a common trait of desert plants. All varieties of Pelargonium crispum that I have grown are tolerant of the heat although they appreciate some shade during the midsummer. Certainly they are worthwhile for gardeners in the desert Southwest.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
ABC News Wants Your Global Warming Stories!
ABC News is out to "prove" the pseudo-science of global warming. They even have a nice little form to make it easy for citizen reporters to send in their stories. What I want to know is how they can tell if something is caused by global warming and not by a variety of other factors!
Here is my global warming horror story:
Water keeps evaporating out of my swimming pool. Also, 2 or 3 weeks ago, mushrooms came up in my Erodium reichardii. And during the summer, I have to water my garden a lot more than in fall, winter or spring. Spooky!
Saturday, June 17, 2006
I am Sunshine!
Now doesn't this make perfect sense? Especially since I live in Las Vegas and my name is Dawn!
| You Are Sunshine |
 You are often held up by others as the ideal But too much of you, and they'll get burned You are best known for: your warmth Your dominant state: connecting |
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Heat Brings Explosive Growth
Pruned on 3/5/06
Temperatures here in Las Vegas, NV have been in the high 80s to mid 90s. Scented geraniums LOVE this weather! The picture above shows a 16" pot with two Rose Geraniums (P. lucaeflora) and one Chocolate Mint Geranium (P. 'Chocolate Mint'). Most of the growth you see below has happened in the last 2-3 weeks! Combined container plantings like this are a great way to get maximum impact from your scented geraniums.
Rose Geranium and Chocolate Mint Geranium
