May issue - Geraniums


Here you'll find all the sources of the information on roses in this month's Sideshoots. All were correct at the time of going to press.

Geranium Facts

• Number of Pelargonium species around the world: 230
  (Pelargoniums by Diana Miller)
  
  
• Proportion native to the UK: 0%
  
  
• Number of Geranium species around the world: 370
  (Hardy Geraniums by Peter Yeo)
  
  
• Proportion native to the UK: 3%
  (11 species) (New Flora of the British Isles by Clive Stace)
  
  
• Number of pelargonium cultivars available: 2209
  (Plantfinder 2000/2001)
  
  
• Proportion with variegated leaves: 14%
  (302 - Plantfinder 2000/2001)
  
  
• Number of geranium cultivars available: 320
  (Plantfinder 2000/2001)
  
  
• Proportion with variegated leaves: 1.6%
  (5 - Plantfinder 2000/2001)
  
  
• Tallest ever pelargonium: 11ft 3in/3.44m
  (www.algoflash.com/entries.html)
  
  
• Maximum height of a pelargonium in order to be defined as ’ÄòMiniature’Äô: 5in/12.5cm
  (1001 Pelargoniums by Hazel Key)
  
  
• Number of geranium and pelargonium books available? 18
  (amazon.co.uk)
  
  
• Price, each, of the most expensive generally available F1 pelargonium seed - Summer Showers Mixed, from T&M? 99.8p
  
  
• Price, each, of the same variety from Mr Fothergill? 37.4p
  
  
• Price, each, of the cheapest generally available F1 pelargonium seed - five varieties from DT Brown? 20.6p
  
  
• Price, each, of the cheapest F2 variety - Pastorale from Dobies? 5.3p
  
  (Mail order catalogues examined: Dobies, Suttons, Unwins, T&M, Mr Fothergill, DT Brown, Organic Gardening, Chiltern, Marshalls, Kings)
  
  
• Number of geraniums in NCCPG National Collection at Catforth Gardens Nursery: 388
  (National Plant Collections Directory)
  
  
• Number of pelargoniums in the NCCPG National Collection at Fibrex Nurseries: 2200
  (National Plant Collections Directory)
  
  
• Number of web pages featuring geraniums? 110,000
  (Google)
  
  
• Pages on the website of the International Geranium Society? 45
  (counted on the site)
  
  
• And the British and European Geranium Society? 20
  (counted on the site)
  
  
• And the British Pelargonium and Geranium Society? 8
  (counted on the site)
  
  
• Value of the world market in geranium oil (used in perfume): ¬£6.7m 1993
  (MAFF website)
  
  
• Percentage which could be produced in UK: 100%
  (1993 MAFF website)
  
  
• Total value of geranium oils imported into UK: ¬£1.38m
  (1995 MAFF website)
  
  
• International market price of finest quality "Bourbon" oil from the Reunion Islands: ¬£77.50 per Kg.
  (pers. comm Pierre-D. Cochard, Executive Director, General Aromatics A.C.)
  
  
• International market price of the most commonly used geranium oil from China: ¬£34.70 per Kg
  (pers. comm Pierre-D. Cochard, Executive Director, General Aromatics A.C.)
  
  
• Retail price of 10ml of Bourbon geranium oil: ¬£8.58
  (Aqua-Oleum of Stroud)
  
  
• Mark up on1kg of Bourbon geranium oil when sold retail: 1100%
  (assuming 1ml weighs 1gm)
  
  

Geranium banter

SO, GERANIUMS Yes…

TUBS, WINDOW BOXES - THAT KIND OF THING Yes

BUT WHAT ABOUT THOSE GROUND COVERING PERENNIALS, AREN’ÄôT THEY GERANIUMS TOO? Yes

I’ÄôM CONFUSED You’Äôre not the only one, Pelargonium enthusiasts get very rattled if you call their plants geraniums.

SO HOW CAN TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PLANTS BOTH BE GERANIUMS? Blame Linnaeus.

I THOUGHT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A GOOD GUY. Yes, but in 1753 he decided that the shrubby pelargoniums from Africa were so similar to the herbaceous geraniums, mainly from Europe, that they should all be called Geranium.

BUT THEY’ÄôRE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT! The seed pods are very similar.

BIG DEAL. That’Äôs what the botanists at Kew thought when thirty five years later they decided he was wrong and separated them again. And it’Äôs been that way ever since.

EXCEPT THAT EVERYONE STILL CALLS BOTH LOTS GERANIUMS. Yes.

I’ÄôM CONFUSED. You’Äôre not the only one. Especially as the term hardy geraniums has been coined to distinguish what people also call cranesbills from their tender cousins - which are not really geraniums at all.

SO, IS THERE A WAY OUT OF THIS MESS? Use the botanical names: call the hardy, ground covering herbaceous perennials Geranium and the tender slightly shrubby bedding plants Pelargonium. In spite of the fact that some geraniums are tender or shrubby and some pelargoniums are hardy.

OK, OK THAT’ÄôS ENOUGH. CAN’ÄôT WE ROUND THIS UP AND LAY DOWN IN A DARKENED ROOM? There are some unusual facts about geraniums that might interest you?

SUCH AS? That a few bites of a pelargonium leaf sends Japanese beetles into a stupor for eight hours yet when they wake up they immediately munch more. (Science News Online (12/5/98))

AND? That parts of the geranium seed pods are used in industrial humidity sensors. (www.hygrometrix.com)

AND? Ground geranium roots are used as a suppository to cure piles. (King's American Dispensatory by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D.)

ENOUGH, ENOUGH. OK, just grow them in your window box, or in your herbaceous border… depending.


Famous geraniums The scarlet ones outside Buckingham palace which are, horror of horrors, American!

Unknown geranium A Geranium, a silent film made in 1911 starring the great grandfather of Drew Barrymore (star of Charlie’Äôs Angels). (imdb.com)

Strange geraniums 1 The Geranium On The Windowsill Just Died But Teacher You Went Right On (Book, September 2000) amazon.co.uk

Strange geraniums 2 Pain Is Inevitable but Misery Is Optional So, Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy (Book, July 1993) amazon.com


He said, she said

Pelargoniums are Geraniums "In order to avoid confusion I shall continue to call Zonal Pelargoniums ’ÄòGeraniums’Äô". Harold Bagust (Former geranium nurseryman) (Miniature and Dwarf Geraniums, 1988)

Pelargoniums are Pelargoniums "People the world over are now in the process of learning to call a pelargonium a pelargonium" Hazel Key (National Pelargonium Collection Holder) 1001 Pelargoniums, 2000)