A Small History: Geraniums

Owners of beautiful, eclectic homes giving tours to TV crews seem to have a universal fondness for geraniums, or pelargoniums. There’s something about them. They’re leafy greenness plus a brilliant pop of colorful petals is surely a draw. The sheer variety, in both fanciful leaf shape and flower color is also interesting and lovely. I imagine if one is seduced by this flower species early on in life, they could have a love affair with many different and unique types. That, too, seems interesting and lovely. 

To refer to a flower as “discovered” is sort of a strange thing to do. Who counts as the discoverer? A doe? A bee? In any case, humans became rather aware of them - geraniums - in South Africa in the 17th century. They gained popularity and were brought over to England. Thomas Jefferson is responsible for shipping the plant from Europe to the United States in the late 18th century, when they began popularly spreading through American gardens. [1]

Until 1962, geraniums could only be cultivated from cuttings. But in that year at PSU, they developed the first successful seed-propagated geranium. After this, seed propagation became more and more accessible. Though ones propagated from cuttings tend to have larger flowers and are sometimes hardier varieties. [1]

In the 1910’s there were hundreds of varieties, but most of them have been lost over time. The geranium was compromised by 2 world wars, and other history that put pretty things on the back burner, understandably. [2]

Geraniums can have a variety of leaf patterns, but I think they generally look like a sort of mix between a clover and a snowflake.

The geranium, in addition to its many leaf shapes, has many meanings tied to it. Because there are so many unrelated meanings I’m not particularly motivated to list them here - but a few of my favorites are: stupidity, melancholy, and unexpected meeting (as well as expected meeting...so just meeting?). 

I think I’m going to add a geranium to my indoor flora this winter. They look so beautiful in a terracotta pot by a window, just a little spindly and colorfully hopeful somehow.

[1] https://www.mygardengeek.com/a-short-history-of-the-geranium/

[2] https://plantersplace.com/pp-featured/geraniums-a-brief-history-and-introduction/