Pelargoniums
The Pelargonium genus varies greatly. The varieties that we grow share a number of care requirements for success in the garden.
Warm Days, Cool Nights -These plants need the Pacific Ocean influenced climate to grow all year. Malibu, Pasadena, Concord, and San Jose are fine. Chicago andNew Orleans are not.
Avoid Soggy Soil, Wet Foliage – When in doubt, water established pelargoniums less. Once per week should be plenty (as with irises). Avoid overhead watering late in the day or at night.
Cut Back 75% Every Year in November or December – Without the pruning, new growth initiates from the end of the previous year’s branches, leading to woody sprawl and declining vigor.
Enjoy the Show – Like California’s native sages, and lavender in the Mediterranean, pelargoniums are generally fast and showy, but thrive for under 10 years. The varieties listed below last longer.
Longest lived pelargoniums for landscaping
P. sidoides ‘Burgundy’
P. sidoides ‘Punch’
‘Moras Shubert’
‘White Lady’
‘Fairy Cascades’
‘Copthorne’
‘Endsleigh Oak’
‘Roller’s Satinique’
‘Voodoo’
‘Lemon Fancy’
All our ivy pelargoniums
For more, see PlantMaster Landscape Pelargonium Collection
Species/Species Hybrid Pelargoniums
This category is from Geraniums: The Complete Encyclopedia by Fay Brawner, an excellent resource. All are great for the super drought-tolerant plant palette, for roof gardens, containers, and slopes.
Pelargonium ionidiflorum (Fairy Cascades)
Almost non-stop small, dark rose-pink blooms. Finely dissected trailing dark green foliage to 6” high, 12”-15” around. Takes high heat and cold to 18 degrees.
Pelargonium sidoides ‘Burgundy’
Often erroneously sold as P. sidoides. ‘Burgundy’ has mounding rosettes of soft grey foliage and a l0-month per year display of deep burgundy blooms on slender 12”-15” tall stalks. Excellent border plant, with irises or succulents, or to replace dead heucheras.
Pelargonium sidoides ‘PUNCH’
For the landscape architect who said she loves the foliage, drought tolerance and extended blooming of P. sidoides ‘Burgundy’ but wants flowers with “more punch”! Identical habit to P.s. ‘Burgundy’, but silvery foliage that contrasts beautifully with the profuse deep pink blooms. Dramatic with Echeveria ‘Afterglow’.
BURGUNDY LADY
Similar to ‘Burgundy’ (one of its parents) but with larger, greener foliage. Blooms are twice the size, have long spidery petals and are held on taller (15”-20”) stalks.
LAVENDER LAD
Looks like a slightly larger version of P. ionidiflorum. Loose, trailing habit with ½” cerise blooms from Mar.-Nov. 6”-8” tall by 12”-18” wide.
MORAS SHUBERT
Lush, fragrant fern green foliage looks delicate, but is tough in sun or shade. A great substitute for dead Tiarellas and Heucheras in our climate. Bright lavender pink blooms Feb-Dec. 12’-15” tall x 18”-24” wide.
PINK SPICE
Loose mounds of fresh apple green foliage 6”-9” tall by 12”-15” wide are covered with tiny soft pink blooms held just above the foliage.
WHITE LADY
From Jay Kapac, a California hybridizer, comes this excellent small slope or ground cover. Just when everything is at its Winter worst, White Lady’s bright fern green foliage looks Spring fresh. A carpet of small pure white blooms appears in waves Spring-Fall. Our most popular variety with landscape professionals
Scented Pelargoniums
Add fragrance to your plant palette with this diverse category. For best effect, locate plants where reflected heat or the casual touch of a passerby releases the aroma. To smell a Scented Pelargonium gently press a leaf between a thumb and finger. Your touch will pick up the aromatic oils and your body heat will releases the fragrance.
Border and Small Ground Cover Scented Pelargoniums
APPLE
Mounding, fern green foliage 10”-16” tall by 12”-28” wide with pure white blooms. Best in part shade.
AROMA
The scented with the most formal growth habit. Tidy perfect 6”-8” tall mounds look like clipped olive green mounds of double curly parsley. Strong woodsy fragrance. Pure white blooms.
ENDSLEIGH OAK
A 1/3 scale version of Chocolate Mint but with a profuse flower show Feb.-June and a more pleasant fragrance. Use as a ground cover, on a trellis, or in a hanging basket. Called the “lavender scented pelargonium”. Strong fragrance, useful in cooking or potpourris. Striking leaf markings fade in summer.
ENDSLEIGH OAK
A 1/3 scale version of Chocolate Mint but with a profuse flower show Feb.-June and a more pleasant fragrance. Use as a ground cover, on a trellis, or in a hanging basket. Called the “lavender scented pelargonium”. Strong fragrance, useful in cooking or potpourris. Striking leaf markings fade in summer.
TUTTI FRUTTI
Handsome grey-green foliage resembles Aroma, but with lacier foliage and looser habit. Fresh, fruity fragrance. 9”-14” tall by 14”-20” wide.
VARIEGATED NUTMEG
A landscape designer’s favorite. The loose, spreading grey-green 9”-14” tall foliage with random creamy variegation complements most colors. Will cascade over a wall or edge of a pot and is a nice foil for the bold shapes of agaves or dark phormiums.
NUTMEG
Same as above, but with silvery olive green foliage
Shrubby Scented Pelargoniums
LEMON FANCY
A tidier, more garden friendly version of ‘Mabel Gray’ or ‘Citrosum’ (neither of which actually repel mosquitos). A single or multi-stemmed shrub to 28” tall has 2”-3” diameter palmate leaves with an intense clean lemon fragrance. Resprouts from the crown if stepped on and broken, so it is great for parking strips
LIME (Pelargonium nervosum)
Shiny, fresh green 2” leaves have a strong lime fragrance. 12”-18” tall by 12”-20” wide. Infrequent lavender blooms.
SILVER MINT ROSE
Leaves shaped like those of ‘True Rose’ but splashed with silvery variegation. Tidy spreading habit, pleasant mint fragrance and occasional lavender blooms. Excellent accent in part shade. 15”-20” tall by 18”-24” wide.
CHARITY
Lemon-scented, chartreuse variegated foliage can sunburn. Best with some shade. 3”- 4” maple shaped leaves on 12”–18” tall stems. Spreads 10”-15” wide. Nice with burgundy Japanese Maple foliage. Almost never blooms.
COLOCHO
Fragrant, resinous, forest green foliage and stems twist and curl into fantastic shapes resembling living dreadlocks. Colocho’s sculptural effect is best enjoyed in a special pot rather than in the ground. 15”-20” tall by 18”-28” wide.
CY’S GOLDEN SUNBURST (Pelargonium crispum)
Lightly lemon-scented chartreuse, gold and greencrinkled leaves tightly line wiry erect stems for a luminous effect. 12”-18” wide by 15”-26” tall. Cut back for better foliage color. Use stems in arrangements.
PRINCE RUPERT VARIEGATED (Pelargonium crispum)
Old garden favorite. Like a taller, looser version of Cy’s, but with cream to white variegation on larger crinkled leaves. 15”-20” wide by 18”-30” tall. Like Cy’s, it can be trained as a topiary or hedge.
PRINCE RUPERT (Pelargonium crispum)
Same as above, but with solid dark green crinkled foliage that combines well with other plants in pots, or with cut flowers in arrangements. Lemon fragrance.
FERNLEAF (Pelargonium denticulatum ‘Filicifolium’)
Also called Pine-Scented Pelargonium. Fernlike, resinous dark green foliage is dramatic in arrangements. Planted as a dust catching hedge around huts in its native South Africa. When the sticky branches fill with feathers, flies, and dust they are cut off, allowing for fresh, clean foliage. 12”-18” wide by 30”-48” tall.
TRUE ROSE (Pelargonium graveolens)
Clusters of lavender blooms on sprawling grey-green, deeply lobed foliage that fills the air with rose fragrance. 15”-24” tall by 16”-30” wide.
Large Ground Cover/ Vining Pelargoniums
PEPPERMINT (Pelargonium tomentosum)
Versatile and underused, this fragrant pelargonium will blanket a steep, rocky slope or spread over oak, sycamore or pepper tree roots in dry shade. We have it planted with fuchsias and camellias on one slope, and with Coast Live Oak, Geranium maderense and Clivias on another. Fuzzy 2”-4” diameter “puppy ear” leaves invite touching, which releases peppermint fragrance. Fast growing to at least 4 feet around, this plant will burn in full sun inland. Temperatures below 28 degrees F will cause damage.
CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT (CHOCOLATE MINT)
Sorry, the chocolate refers to the handsome dark markings on the deeply lobed fuzzy leaves, especially in new growth. This cross, between Peppermint and Oak leaf pelargoniums, is happiest in part shade.
Ivy Pelargoniums (Pelargonium x peltatum)
Ivy pelargoniums prefer to grow within ten miles of the ocean and thrive in immediate seacoast conditions. Ours will also grow further inland. They perform best as colorful ground covers or covering fences. Avoid heavy clay or soggy soils and provide good air circulation. Full sun near the coast is best, while afternoon shade is preferred inland.
DOUBLE AMETHYST
A landscape favorite grown by the former Hi Mark Nursery for years. Large amethyst colored, double petaled blooms. Tight growth habit, with shiny deep green foliage.
DOUBLE BURGUNDY
Deep red, double-petaled blooms during cool weather intensify to darker burgundy as temperatures rise.
SEVILLANA
From a grower in Israel, this plant tolerates dry heat better than many of the ivies. We love its abundance of pure red (not pinkish) blooms.
PINK SEVILLE
Same performance and foliage as Sevillana, but with clear pink blooms.
VALLEY WHITE
Found growing beautifully in the San Fernando Valley by a landscape contractor friend of ours. This is the most vigorous, floriferous, heat tolerant ivy pelargonium we have ever grown.