GARDENING : Hey, Those Aren’t Weeds: the Return of Geraniums

Geraniums grow so readily in our climate that many people disdainfully think of them as weeds. Yet they’re prized in Europe and are the favorite flower of England’s Queen Mother.

On the East Coast, they’re popularly grown as potted plants and grace many sunny windowsills indoors. Here with our plentiful sunshine, they thrive outdoors, where they can be grown in the ground or in containers.

Geraniums come in a wide variety of colors, sizes, flower and leaf shapes. In fact, there are 22,000 varieties from which to choose, although most are not readily available to the home gardener.

There’s considerable confusion about what a geranium actually is. What gardeners term “geraniums” are known to botanists as “pelargoniums.” The true geraniums are hardy perennial plants with small flowers borne either singly or in clusters of two or three. Their flowers characteristically have five overlapping petals, all alike in appearance. Popularly known as cranesbill, they’re often used as ground cover plants or in rock gardens.

“Initially, all varieties were called geraniums, but a botanical reclassification resulted in the splitting of pelargoniums as a separate species,” explained Bill Tufenkian, past president of the International Geranium Society and a noted exhibitor of show geraniums.

Species geraniums have very small flowers and are prized by collectors who are fascinated by the shapes of their leaves and flowers.

Pelargoniums are what most garden hobbyists recognize, and the most popular are the Martha Washington or Lady Washington geraniums (Pelargonium domesticum); common geraniums (Pelargonium hortorum ), which include the fancy-leafed zonal geraniums valued by flower arrangers for their foliage, and ivy geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum ), which are used in hanging baskets or seen cascading over banks or walls. Pelargoniums are characterized by their flowers, which come in a variety of hues and color patterns. All have the distinctive five petals, two pointing in one direction, three pointing in the opposite direction. Hybridizers have developed double flowers for some varieties to further enhance selections.

Scented geraniums are less widely known. These highly aromatic plants produce small flowers and are mainly grown for their very fragrant leaves.

“Scented geraniums are enjoying a big comeback because people are using them in cottage gardens,” said Mary Lou Heard, owner of Heard’s Country Gardens in Westminster. The nursery specializes in old-fashioned flowers, herbs and scented geraniums.

“People are rediscovering the delights of fragrance in their gardens,” she said. “I love to watch when people first rub the leaves of the scented geraniums. They’re so surprised at their rose or lemon or spicy aromas.”

She recommends planting scented geraniums near walkways so the leaves can be brushed by passersby. Another option is planting several in containers and grouping them on a patio or near a door.

Their fragrant leaves can be used in sachets, for flavoring sauces, jellies and baked goods, and for scenting finger bowls. Some people like to place a leaf or two from a rose-scented geranium in a closed sugar container. The aromatic oils impart their rose taste to the sugar, which can be used in tea or for sprinkling on cookies or cakes.(A note of caution: When using any plant or flower for eating, be sure it hasn’t been sprayed with any toxic substances.)

Rogers Gardens in Corona del Mar offers a large selection of zonal and ivy geraniums now, and offers Martha Washingtons in the spring and summer during their peak bloom time.

“Currently, we’re featuring the Balcom series of ivy geraniums,” said Manager Phil Miller. “Their iridescent colors of red, rose or pink are spectacular. We’ve planted a bank of them, and they’re real showstoppers.

“Geraniums grow very well in this region,” he added. “Although people don’t think of them as drought-tolerant plants, they actually are because they don’t require much water. More geraniums are killed by over-watering than under-watering.”

Established plants in the ground can do well with watering just weekly or every 10 days. A protective mulch to insulate the soil is a good gardening practice for all plantings, and geraniums flourish when their roots are kept cool and they’re grown in well-drained soil.

Fall is the best time to prune Martha Washingtons, which tend to get rangy and woody.

“Treat them as a small, woody shrub and when pruning be sure to leave some green leafs and short side branches,” Tufenkian advised. “This will encourage side growth and produce a bushier plant.”

He advocates fertilizing geraniums when the temperature is above 60 and below 90 degrees when the plants are actually growing. He uses a crystal fertilizer-in-water solution applied as a foliar feed at one-half the recommended strength every two weeks. He recommends this method for container-grown geraniums since the frequent watering leaches nutrients out of the pot.

Geraniums can be attacked by geranium budworms, whitefly and aphids. Tufenkian uses a nontoxic commercial insecticidal soap solution (five drops per gallon of water) and reports good results with half a cup of rubbing alcohol added to each quart of soap solution.

“I just walk through my garden weekly and inspect the plants. I carry a small hand sprayer, and if I spot an infestation, I then spray the plant,” he said. “It’s important to spray under the leaves where the eggs are. If there’s a sizable pest population, it’s probably necessary to spray again every three days as those eggs hatch.”

Geranium fanciers who grow the scenteds report that those plants are more pest-resistant and can even deter some pests from plants grown nearby.