One of the most underrated and without doubt one of the toughest flowering plants to grow in a South Aussie garden are pelargoniums! Some call them pelargoniums, some call them geraniums. To find out what we should be calling them you need to talk to an expert, and there’s no one better than Joyce Gepp from the South Australian Geranium & Pelargonium Society! Pelargoniums are tender perennials and occur naturally almost entirely within South Africa. Leaves of true geraniums are usually deeply divided and cut, while those of most groups of pelargoniums are not. Pelargoniums also have rather thick, succulent stems, originating as they do from areas where they have to withstand summer drought, whereas geraniums have the appearance of ‘normal’ herbaceous perennial plants, a mounding form of many slender stems arising from a central core, and fibrous roots. Plants sold at garden centers that are labeled “Ivy Geranium”, “Scented Geranium” and “Zonal Geranium” are actually three different species of pelargonium. For more information on these super tough and colorful plants head to the South Australian Geranium & Pelargonium Society. SA GERANIUM & PELARGONIUM SOCIETY WATCH THE CLIP
