Geranium Blog

The Joy of Celery

All my geraniums are very pretty right now. I have a lot of exciting pictures coming up. Celery scented geranium is puting on a particularly fine display. The flower stems are very thin, so the flowers have the appearance of a flock of butterflies.

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.

Seed Patrol

A few warm days and like magic, the seeds appear! This afternoon I harvested seeds from Pelargonium 'Cinnamon', P. ionidiflorum (Celery), Coconut, Apple and a couple of zonals.

Still Blooming in June

Pelargonium 'Sandalwood' (woodsy scented)

Sandalwood Geranium is outblooming every other scented geranium in the yard! It's normal for them to slow down in the heat of the summer, but Sandalwood just isn't ready for a rest! It is in the shade most of the day except for about 2-3 hours of sun.

Others still blooming - a bit more modestly - are P. 'Old Scarlet Unique' (pungent), P. 'Mexican Sage' (spicy) and P. 'Brilliant' (pineapple). Two more that have just never quit since I got them is P. ionidiflorum (celery) and P. odoratissimum (apple).

Seed Patrol

Pelargonium odoratissimum (apple) with flowers and seedheads

Both Apple and Celery Geranium are now producing seedheads. I have managed to collect a little seed already from Apple, but none yet from Celery. They are both species pelargoniums so the seed should be viable. Rooting cuttings are the faster, easier method of getting new plants, of course, but this is a quest for knowledge and experience!

Pelargonium ionidiflorum (celery) with flowers and seedheads

Celery Geranium Still Blooming

P. ionidiflorum

Pelargonium ionidiflorum has been blooming since it first arrived on February 22 - almost 2 months ago. And it really does smell like celery!

Buds and Blooms

Quite a few of my scented geraniums are beginning to produce buds: Phyllis, Old Scarlet Unique, Nutmeg, Mexican Sage, Clorinda, Orange, and Sandalwood. This is a very exciting development! The only one of these I have seen bloom before is Nutmeg.

P. ionidiflorum (celery) & P. odoratissimum (apple) in bloom 03/11/06

The only scented geraniums currently blooming are Celery and Apple. In fact, they arrived that way from the nursery. No sign of blooms yet from Strawberry, Ginger or Brilliant. And Dr. Livingstone, Citrosa and Lime were recently chopped back to almost nothing, but just wait a little bit.

Celery Geranium in Bloom

Here is a better picture of Pelargonium ionidiflorum. It was blooming when it arrived in a box and shows no sign of letting up. I love the wild look of the narrow petals!