Pelargonium × hortorum

The specific epithet hortorum is a genitive form of the Latin hortus "garden" and therefore corresponds to "horticultural". The name was created by the American botanist Liberty Hyde Bailey who in 1914, writes "The large number of forms of the common geranium, derives from the variation and probably the crossing of P. zonale and P. inquinans (and possibly others) during more than a century of careful selections".

It is important to distinguish the botanical Latin term "Geranium", the extent of which has varied according to botanical knowledge over the centuries and the vernacular name of the French language "geranium" whose extension is defined by several centuries of use by amateur and professional gardeners. Furthermore, most plants commonly called "geraniums" by florists and gardeners do not belong to the genus Geranium (as currently delimited by botanists) but to the genus Pelargonium.

Currently, most gardeners, amateur or professional, know perfectly well that the geraniums that decorate the balconies are Pelargonium but they are reluctant to use the term they find too pedantic. The term is not felt to be fully part of the common language and still remains marked as scholarly.

P. zonal (wild) in the background, Pelargonium x hortorum (hybrid) in the foreground

The ancestors of Pelargonium zonal group are two species of wild pelargoniums of South Africa called Geranium Africanum. In the following century, Carl Linnaeus gave them a binomial name, Geranium zonal and Geranium inquinans (in Species Plantarum 7 , 1735), then the heir reclassified them in the genus Pelargonium. But this name will only be widely accepted in the 19th century, and in the meantime varieties and horticultural hybrids of these species were a great success with gardeners, they kept the habit they had taken to call them "geraniums", a term that was unambiguously in context.

The first ancestor of the zonal group, now known as Pelargonium zonal, was collected in the province of Western Cape in 1689 and was sent to Europe and described by the Dutch botanist 9 Jan Commelijn (1629–1692). Traces of its cultivation are then found in the gardens of the Duchess of Beaufort in England, an aristocrat passionate about exotic flowers that employed many gardeners to grow seeds brought back by sailors from abroad. In 1699 she produced a catalog of her collection of plants which she had the following year illustrated by artists. Among the paintings are what is now called Pelargonium zonal whose precise identification was made by the botanist John Ray.

It was only during the second half of the 18th century that the foundations of hybridization and floral biology began to be established through the work of two remarkable German experimenter Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel (1750–1816). With the first, the technique of obtaining first and second generation hybrids is described for the first time. In 1793, Sprengel established that most hermaphroditic flowers could not be fertilized by their own pollen because their reproductive organs did not reach maturity at the same time (as is the case with Geraniaceae). And we had to wait for the precise observations of the Italian microscopist Giovanni Battista Amici in 1830, to establish that the pollen germs by emitting a pollen tube that progresses to the egg.

Geranium doubles.

The first traces of the culture of the second ancestor of the zonal group, now known as Pelargonium inquinans , are not found in a duchess but in a bishop, who is also passionate about plants coming from overseas. Henry Compton , Bishop of London, had been a botanical collection in the garden of Fulham Palace. In 1713, when he died, Pelargonium inquinans was found in his collection. The first illustration from 1732 was made from a plant growing in the garden of British botanist James Sherard.

They are stocky and large. The flowers can be single or double, and have five petals positioned regularly around the center. The leaves are often fragrant. The flowers come in many colours, including red, shades of pink, scarlet and white. Recently, orange and yellow cultivars have been developed. The inflorescence is carried by a long rigid peduncle, starting from the armpit of the upper leaves, so that the flowered head stands out clearly above the foliage.

Colorful pelargoniums in a balcony

Many cultivars have been grown since the late eighteenth century. Cultivars with very double flowers and no anthers are called Rosebud Pelargoniums since the flowers never open completely and therefore resemble a rose. Leaves of circular shape (7 cm in diameter) and have a winged venation and a leaf margin. The blade is covered by a dark annular area, more or less visible depending on the variety. The zoned geraniums are very floriferous plants, not quite demanding when it comes to water. Flowering occurs without interruption from spring until the last days of autumn.

Flowers.

Pelargoniums in various colors

Availability includes the usual nursery "seed-grown" and the "cutting grown" types, which can easily be propagated at home by cuttings and planting side branches. Bracts on cuttings are to be removed, because they often rot. Rooting continues in good conditions for up to 3 weeks. Recently, there are varieties that can be propagated from seeds. Sown in a sandy substrate, it easily germinates at a temperature of 16–18° C. Zonal geraniums grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 9 through 12. Zonal geraniums are basically tropical perennials and they overwinter in zones as cool as zone 7.[4]

The whole plant with the exception of flowers gives off a characteristic smell. It blooms for a very long time (throughout the summer) and abundantly, however, most cultivated varieties do not produce seeds. During the year, it grows about 25–30 cm. It is a long-lived plant, however, older specimens become unkempt, because they are fattening with the bottom of the leaves and bloom less well.

It is grown as an ornamental plant, mainly as a potted plant in apartments and in various types of containers on balconies, window sills and, verandas. The advantages of this plant are the long-blooming flowers and decorative leaves. Recently, in the composition with other plant species, it is sometimes also grown as a bed plant. The plant needs strong light and some direct sunlight. It prefers a dry atmosphere and a lot of space. It should not be sprayed, as it causes root rot. The peat soil or loam soil is the best substrate. Tilled in the apartment in the summer tolerates well room temperature, in winter it is better to take it to a colder room with a temperature not exceeding 16° C. In summer, the plant indoors must be watered 2–3 times a week, whilst the geraniums growing in the field in full sun must be watered every day, morning or evening.

• Zonal pelargoniums
• Pelargonium inquinans

• Floridata