The geranium was bring out into Europe from South Africa towards the beginning of the seventeenth century ; today it is one of the most popular of flowers . It is aboriginal to South Africa , Australia and Turkey , but is now widely grown in the temperate country of the universe .
Of the several sub - divisions of the genus the following six are the most popular.1 . Zonals(P. hortorum)Commonly but incorrectly make love as ‘ geraniums ’ , these are widely rise in bed , nursery , bathtub , urns , boundary line , etc . Foliage may be zoned or apparent , flowers single , threefold or semi - forked , colour rate from white through all shades of salmon and pink to reds and purples . Included in this section are Irenes , Deacons , Rosebuds , Cactus and Stellar assortment , detailed as come after :
IRENESThis vigorous strain was enkindle in California and produce bigger peak - heads in with child copiousness than senior varieties . flower are produced on long stems making them particularly suitable for arrangement and cut flowers , and are all semi - two-fold . Spaced at not less than 18 - in . intervals for correct development in beds and borders , the best resultant role are obtained by planting first into 5 - in . remains pot and sinking the pots into the primer . The follow is a selection : ` Springtime ’ , light salmon - pink;‘Trull ’s Hatch ’ , coral - pink with paler center;‘Penny ’ , atomic number 10 - pink with gentle overtones;‘Electra ’ , abstruse red ink with blue overtones;‘Surprise ’ , powder - pink;‘Modesty ’ , virgin white .
DEACONS(often known as Floribunda Geraniums ) come from a cross between an ivy - leaf and a toy , these are more com treaty than Irenes and bring forth many more small flowerheads . The development of the plant may be command by the pot size of it : for instance a plant life in a 5 - in . pot will grow to about 1 foot . in diam , whereas one in a 15 - in . corporation may explicate to about 4 foot . in diam . Six of the most democratic motley , all double , are : ‘ Deacon Bonanza ’ , atomic number 10 - pink;‘D. Coral Reef ’ , coral - pink;‘D. Mandarin ’ , orange;‘D.Fireball ’ , bright scarlet ; ‘ D. Lilac Mist ’ , pale lilac - pink;‘D. Romance ’ , purple - mauve with blue tinge .
ROSEBUD AND CACTUS VARIETIES
The former bear relatively small flower and the petals never fully open , thus looking like rosebuds . There are five sort , three shades of Marxist , one medium purple and one white with pink bound to the petals and a unripened mall . Cactus varieties have minute twisted flower petal rather like quills . color range through snowy , salmon and pinkish to red , orange and purple .
STELLAR VARIETIES , available in both exclusive and double varieties , grow in Australia . The foliage is star - shaped ( hence the name ) , sometimes zone but often overlooked , and the flowers are run on long stems . Plants will grow to over 5 ft . in Australia and California .
2 . Fancyleaf ZonalsThese are mainly develop for their strange leaf coloring , the bloom often ( but not always ) being insignificant , usually cherry , single and sparsely produced . Popular for bedding schemes , they are also widely used for edging borders and to tot diversity to mixed grouping . Leaf color ing ranges from gullible - and - inglorious , various shades of gullible , yellowish and bronze to red and Cu in a mixture of combining . Because they are seldom as bushy as the Irenes or Deacons , a more impressive effect is produced by space them 8 - 9 in . apart . The following six will give an idea of the colorings available;‘A Happy Thought ’ , mid - dark-green leave of absence with cream butterfly mark in the mall , blossom red , single;‘Mrs Pollock ’ , red single flowers , leave red , cream and bronze;‘Mrs Quilter ’ , pea plant - green leave with broad bronze zone , Salmon River - pink exclusive flowers;‘Mrs Cox ’ , leave green , flowers scarlet , purpleness and cream;‘Skies of Italy ’ , dark-green , emollient , purplish and orange foliage;‘Miss Burdett Coutts ’ , leaves commemorate immature , emollient , bronze and pink .
3.Regals(P. domesticum)These are commonly roll in the hay in Britain and Australia as geranium and in USA as show or Lady Washington geraniums . They are in the main turn in this country as stool plant and glasshouse plant but they are suitable for international seam , border and tubful in sheltered but sunny positions . The older varieties bloom for only two or three months of the yr but the New hybrids will continue to bloom for at least ten months if grown under correct conditions . anthesis depends upon sparkle to a large extent ; if the quality of wintertime illumination is sufficient they can be bloom throughout the twelvemonth ; if the light is short they will remain . In their raw environment show geranium have no hibernating period nor do they need one ; quiescency is unnatural to them and is bring on by adverse conditions .
colouration range from blank to close - total darkness through every potential shade and combination of shade ( many being multi - colored ) , except yellow and consummate blue . The flower are unremarkably larger than those of the zonals and the leaves are unzoned . However , there are now at least two varieties with colored leaf . ‘ Miss Australia ’ has silver - edged foliage and deep - pinkish bloom ; ‘ Golden Princess ’ , has gold and greenish foliage and white blossom . The following are among the most suited for glasshouse or out-of-door use :
Georgia Peach ’ , peach - pinko with frilled petal ( USA);Geronimo ’ , blood - red with frilled petal ( USA);‘Aztec ’ , hemangioma simplex , blank and cocoa with maroon markings ( USA);‘Grandma Fischer ’ , bright orange with chocolate-brown marker on most petal ( USA);`Nhulunbuy ’ , ruddy , edged with white , very ruffled ( Australia);‘South American Bronze ’ , chocolate - maroon with white edge to petals ( USA ) .
4.Ivyleaf varieties(P. peltatum)The heavy leaves of these are cuticle - form . bloom may be exclusive , semi - dual or double . These trailing varieties are mainly used in Britain for hanging baskets , tubs and urn , but are widely plant in other countries in bedding scheme for ground cover . foliation may be zona or plain , and there are a few fancy - leave behind varieties , include ‘ Crocodile ’ , with a mesh - similar pattern over the foliation in snowy or cream . Colors range through white-hot , Salmon River and pink to red and purple . The six modern varieties listed below are a immense improvement on the senior ones : ‘ Sybil Holmes ’ ( Ailsa Garland ’ ) , blush wine - pink , double ( USA ) ; ‘ Blue Springs ’ , mauve - pink double , erect habit ( Continental ) ; ‘ Cliff House ’ , snowy rose window with a touching of pink in the center ( USA ): Jack of Hearts ’ , bright pinkish semi - threefold with scarlet mark on each petal , upright habit ( USA ) ; Malibu ’ , crimson - cherry with maroon target and orange flash , double ( USA ) .
5.Scented - foliage varietiesThere are hundreds of these since they seed promptly and produce many forms with only slight variations . The aroma is let go of when the foliation is brush or softly tweet with the fingers . In California and South Africa they can make bush up to several feet in dia meter . The adopt six will serve as the basis for a collection : geranium ‘ Crispum ’ , lemon tree nose leaves;‘Dr Livingstone ’ , finely divided leaves which are rose scented;‘Fragrans ’ , nutmeg scented;‘Graveolens ’ , leave rose scented , flowers pinkish with empurpled veins;‘Lady Plymouth ’ , develop perfumed leave , blossom lavender marked with darker veins;‘Prince of Orange ’ , orange nose with modest pallid mauve flowers .
6.Miniatures and DwarfsThese are mostly zonals , double , semi - three-fold and unmarried varieties in colouring material straddle from white through Salmon River and pink to reds and purples . This categorisation track mature flora normally less than 8 in . high , primarily grown as glasshouse pot plant life but they can be used very effectively in bedding schemes , rampart pockets and mete . Cultivation is as for other radical but over - potting should be avoided if maximal flower is desired . They can be flowered throughout the yr under the right conditions . The color range is as for zonals . There are a few miniature regals all with mauve or purple - and - white flowers , and two miniature English ivy leaves—`Gay Baby ’ , with tiny white flowers , and ‘ Sugar Baby ’ with pink flowers .
Among zonary varieties are ‘ Black Vesuvius ’ , dark , almost pitch-dark green leaves and cerise flowers;‘Fournier ’ , black green foliage , cerise blooms;‘Kleiner Leibling ’ , pink flowers;‘Pigmy ’ , ruby-red double flowers;‘Pixie ’ , flowers pinkish with white centers;‘Venue ’ , pink doubled flowers . General CultureAll geraniums prefer a cheery position , medium loam and shelter from Frederick North and northeast winds . They will withstand temperature between 34 ° F ( 1 ° C ) and 2.0 ° F ( 49 ° C ) , but will not go hoarfrost . Propagation is by cutting , 3 - 4 in . long , taken from green shoots , sooner in recent July or former August ( cuttings from miniatures will be short ) . Over watering should be avoid ; plants can easy be killed by an excess of water . Regular feeding with a balanced fertiliser is beneficial , but avert eminent - nitrogen feeds include brute manure , which will result in plushy growth and few flush .
