Geranium Blog

Scented Geranium Purchased in Las Vegas Nursery

I was delighted to discover a scented pelargonium at the Star Nursery on W. Cheyenne, Las Vegas, NV. Last year, although 2006 was the Pelargnium's turn as Herb of the Year, not a single scented geranium could be found locally. And I even found one I didn't have. I used to have it, but you know how that goes. ;)

New Scented Geraniums - Part 1 of 3

Pelargonium 'Finger Bowl Lemon', P. crispum (lemon scented), P.'Cinnamon' (L to R)

I ordered some new plants from Mountain Valley Growers. I was very pleased with what I received. The plants were in 2 1/2" pots but nice and big. The plants were all labeled with stickers on the pots.

So what did I get? Nine scented geraniums! Here is another view of the geraniums above:

Pelargonium 'Finger Bowl Lemon', P. crispum (lemon scented), P.'Cinnamon' (L to R)

P. 'Finger Bowl Lemon' - Upright plant with very tiny serrated and ruffled leaves. Strong lemon scent.

P. crispum - Upright plant with small serrated and ruffled leaves. Lemon scent.

P. 'Cinnamon' - Upright plant with small wavy serrated leaves. Cinnamon scent.

Phoney-Baloney

In my continuing search for scented pelargoniums in Las Vegas nurseries, I called Plant World again. This time I was assured that they really did have scented geraniums in stock. I grabbed my purse and camera and raced out the door!

At the nursery I was shown a group of Geranium sanguineum varieties. I carried one up to the counter and explained that this was commonly called a "true geranium", but a scented geranium is a Pelargonium like zonals or regals.

"It says scented geranium right here," said the gals behind the counter. Sure enough, there was a sticker on the pot that said "Zonal geranium - scented geranium". And another sticker on the pot said "Geranium sanguineum". As if it could be all three things at once!

So that explains why they thought they had scented geraniums. I suspect the scented geranium stickers were added so the wholesaler could unload some weedy-looking, less desirable plants. (Sorry, but that pretty much describes what I saw.) Mislabeling is a time-honored marketing practice in the retail/wholesale plant biz.

No Scented Geraniums in Las Vegas Nurseries and No Good Answers

All spring I have been checking in with my two favorite local nurseries to be sure I didn't miss the arrival of the scented geraniums. "Not until mid-May," was the response. That seemed kind of fishy because all this time they've been knee deep in other Pelargoniums: zonals, ivies, Martha Washingtons. Of course, scented geraniums are not much different from their near relatives as far as when they grow and bloom. And in every year previous, finding scented geraniums has been easy enough.

Since mid-May, the excuses have become more interesting:

• "Probably all the rain in California."
• "We have a new buyer."
• "Hurricane Katrina."
• "Fuel prices are too high."

This situation is just plain weird. California wholesale growers, Las Vegas nursery people - How about it? Is this how you celebrate the 2006 Herb of the Year?

A Pelargonium Shopping Trip

Zonal geraniums 'Distinction' and 'Alpha'

Yesterday I visited two local nurseries, Plant World and Star Nursery. I wanted to see if they had any scented pelargoniums. No luck. Maybe in a couple weeks. I did find these two interesting Zonal geraniums.