Garden Centre

Monday, July 23, 2007

Geranium madness

Like most gardeners, I suppose, I get sudden passions. The current one is for geraniums, and this is the stripy wonder that I’ve been trying to get hold of for weeks. I’ve persuaded ‘himself’ to make me a special container for this, and the Madame Salleron that is trying to flower, despite the rain, and I’ve got the geranium bug in a big way!

But of course, they aren’t really geraniums. Wikipedia says: Pelargonium is a genus of flowering plants which includes about 200 species of perennial, succulent, and shrub plants, commonly known as geraniums. Confusingly, Geranium is the correct botanical name of the separate genus which contains the related Cranesbills. Both genera are in the Family Geraniaceae. Linnaeus originally included all the species in one genus, Geranium, but they were later separated into two genera by Charles L’Héritier in 1789. Gardeners sometimes refer to the members of Genus Pelargonium as "pelargoniums" in order to avoid the confusion, but the older common name "geranium" is still in regular use.

Indeed. What I like about pelargoniums is that many of them have scented leaves, that smell of mint, pineapple or rose and … well … geranium, of course. The oil that is used in aromatherapy is extracted from both the leaves and the flowers. Geranium has been grown for centuries for its fragrance and the extracted oil has been used to soothe and heal wounds and as a mild analgesic and sedative. Possible benefits from using the oil include: stress reduction, pain relief, removing fatigue and nervous exhaustion, lifting melancholy and easing depression, reducing fluid retention, and repelling insects – which may be why people have traditionally grouped scented leaf pelargoniums near their doors and windows – folk wisdom, clever innit! However, if you get a sudden urge to go all geranium in the aromatherapy rather than the floral sense, be aware that the oil may irritate sensitive skin and you shouldn’t use it if you are hypoglycemic because there is a chance it can lower blood-sugar levels.

Labels: aromatherapy, container plants, geranium, pelargonium, plants

The All Seasons Gardener at 3:47 AM

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