Geranium Blog

Heat Tolerant Scented Geraniums For Desert Dwelling Gardeners

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.

Not Dead Yet

This Dr. Livingstone geranium died from
the cold - except for this sprout.

I was convinced this Pelargonium 'Dr. Livingstone' (lemon-rose scented) was a complete loss. We had a cold snap in late December during which temperatures fell to 22 degrees F. So I knew this was dead. When I put my hand around the trunk to yank it out of the pot, I spotted the little green sprout at the base! So I decided to cut away the dead part and let the plant grow back from the new growth. The lesson here is "Look before you pull."

My cold weather emergency plan worked well. All the "movable"-sized pots were brought into the kitchen. During the fall, I made sure that I had new extra plants of the varieties that were in "non-movable"-sized pots. So even though the plants in the largest pots couldn't be saved, I haven't lost any varieties from my collection.

More Pelargonium/Cold Weather Observations:

More Sensitive to Cold: P. 'Ginger', P. 'Lime', P. 'Variegated Prince Rupert', P. 'Dr. Livingstone', P. elongatum - Showed signs of distress from the cold sooner than the others.

Less Sensitive to Cold: P. grossularioides stayed outside throughout the cold snap and although suffering some cold damage, has recovered nicely.

Round Ball Topiary

Pelargonium 'Dr. Livingstone' has a roundish shape naturally

I am trying to grow this Dr. Livingstone geranium, also known as Skeleton Rose, into a round ball topiary. I am turning it a quarter turn once a week and may also do a little light pruning.

Paging Dr. Livingstone

Pelargonium 'Dr. Livingstone' (lemon-rose)

Such a cute little face! Dr. Livingstone is small here, but grows into a very large scented geranium. Even the leaves are large. But the flowers are tiny! Dr. Livingstone will grow into a perfectly round upright ball without too much effort: Just pinch the center top and then give it a quarter turn periodically.

Dr. Livingstone Blooms

Pelargonium 'Dr. Livingstone' aka Skeleton Rose

Dr. Livingstone is a lemon-rose scented geranium. The leaves are deeply divided and have a delightful lacey look. The flowers are very small - white with purple lines on the top petals.