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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
Thursday, June 15, 2006
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).
Posted by Dawn Hill at 9:08 PM
Categories: Flowers, P. 'Brilliant', P. 'Mexican Sage', P. 'Old Scarlet Unique', P. 'Sandalwood', P. ionidiflorum, P. odoratissimum
Categories: Flowers, P. 'Brilliant', P. 'Mexican Sage', P. 'Old Scarlet Unique', P. 'Sandalwood', P. ionidiflorum, P. odoratissimum
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Seed Patrol Update
Pelargonium 'Sandalwood' with flowers and seedheads
While deadheading this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find a few seedheads on P. 'Sandalwood'. This is not a species pelargonium, as far as I know, so it will be interesting to see what develops. Sandalwood is a woodsy scented geranium.
In other seed news, I learned that Upright Coconut Geranium is a species pelargonium: P. elongatum.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Sandalwood Geranium Gets Back to Business
Pelargonium 'Sandalwood'
Sandalwood Geranium started blooming on April 1, but stopped a week later. Now she is back on track with this sparkling display. What a flirt!
