Geranium Blog

Orange You Orange?

Of course, P. 'Orange' is orange scented. He is also my true, very most favorite scented geranium. Orange is easy to grow and blooms freely in the spring.

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.

The Elegant Prince of Orange

Prince of Orange is an orange scented geranium with a sumptuous, upright habit. A bit of pruning will be in order soon to keep this one nice and round, but it seems to want to grow that way naturally.

How do P. 'Orange' and P. 'Prince of Orange' compare? Orange wins out on strength of scent, heat tolerance, size of flowers and length of blooming time. Prince of Orange is an excellent scented geranium choice, but Orange is just that much better. The only thing to do is grow them both.

Orange Geranium Growth Habit

Orange Geranium - my very favorite, you may know - has a graceful sprawling growth habit. It looks really nice in an elevated position, like a plant stand, where it can perform for all to see.

Orange You Gonna Take My Picture?

That's how Orange Geranium is. Always throwing herself in front of the camera! And yet I oblige, because Orange really is one of my favorite scented geraniums. She is a very generous bloomer and I love the little "bunny ear" purple spots. Refreshing orange scent, too.

From Broken to Beautiful

Pelargonium 'Strawberry'

August in Las Vegas: we find ourselves saying things like, "It's so nice out - only 102!" I've been grooming my container plants - deadheading, trimming, and removing debris. Two of my favorite scented geraniums were injured a few weeks ago. A strong wind blew them off the railroad tie they normally sit on.

Pelargonium 'Strawberry' has recuperated beautifully with a zen-like grace. Pelargonium 'Orange' split three ways at the center trunk. I wasn't sure if it would make it, but it has and is now sprouting new growth at the center.

Pelargonium 'Orange'

New growth emerging near the split trunk

Orange Geranium Gone Wild

Pelargonium 'Orange' struts her stuff

We saw this coming a week ago, but even so, who would have imagined this display? Very impressive! I am more and more crazy about this scented geranium.

A Visit From the Easter Geranium

Pelargonium 'Orange'

A beautiful geranium for a beautiful day! Look at all the buds on this plant. Enthusiastic, to say the least.

Orange Geranium in Bloom

Pelargonium 'Orange'

What a charmer! Orange has a white flower with a purple spot on each of the top two petals. This scented geranium really does smell like oranges. A delightful little upright plant.