I grew up in a very old, small town where there were scores of Victorian homes with large wrap-around porches that my grandmother called verandahs. As a little girl, I spent many happy and contented days with my grandparents on a regular basis. Treated like a princess…sitting in my grandfather’s lap while he rocked and smoked his pipe, building houses with playing cards, eating my favorite foods at every meal and sitting on the verandah!

  Perhaps my love of gardening was taught and nurtured during those leisurely hours watching my grandmother tend her plants on the verandah. I remember gigantic Boston ferns, masses of colorful variegated coleus and elegant oversized geraniums … my favorite. She had a magic touch with those geraniums!

  Plants commonly known as geraniums belong to the genus Pelargonium, which includes over 200 species of annuals and perennials. Native to the warm climate of South Africa, geraniums first became popular in the mid-eighteenth century, when hundreds of cultivars were available. Many old-fashioned, fancy-leaf and scented geraniums are available today, as geraniums have become popular once again.

If you need a spot of consistent, reliable, bright color, try the old-fashioned geranium. They are sturdy flowers that will serve you well in your garden or yard. Geraniums in containers or in the garden will reward you with a bounty of long-lasting blooms throughout the summer. 

  Ivy Geraniums (Pelargonium x peltatum) are trailing plants with ivy-like foliage and pendulous branches loaded with flowers and are ideal for hanging baskets and window boxes. Some ivy geraniums may spread up to three feet, will tolerate shade better than other geraniums and have attractive flowers in white, pink or purple. 

  Regal Geraniums are sometimes called Martha Washington Geraniums. These geraniums have showy, large, frilly flowers and can grow up to four feet tall. Regal geraniums prefer part shade and are seen in several colors such as white, red, orange, purple and burgundy.

  Scented Geraniums are grown primarily for their foliage as these shrub-like plants have aromatic leaves with scents of apple, mint or rose. Some citrus-scented cultivars, such as Citrosa and Citronella, are said to repel mosquitoes. 

  Zonal geraniums are distinguished by their showy flower heads and the horseshoe shaped band of dark color in the leaves of most varieties. They are bushy, upright plants and range in size from dwarf, about five inches tall, to over two feet in the taller species. Zonal geraniums give the gardener a wide variety of choices in color selection including red, pink, salmon, white, rose, cherry-red or bicolored.   

  Fancy-leaf Geraniums are well known for their colorful foliage, are part of the zonal group and bear flowers in similar colors. The leaves may have combinations of green, white, yellow, coral, burgundy and bronze; they may be splotched, banded or edged in contrasting colors. 

Stellar Geraniums belong to the zonal group as well and may have colorful foliage, but they are treasured for their airy flowers and pointed, star-shaped leaves.

If you are looking for characteristics of the ideal plant — easy-care, long bloom, color, fragrance and shade tolerance — you’ll find that geraniums have them all. With their fanciful leaves, aromatic foliage and striking flowers, geraniums offer something to all gardeners — even those without a garden. They accept part shade and provide months of color and fragrance in flower beds and containers, even indoors. And their easy-going nature makes them ideal for novices.