Geranium

It is a perennial plant with stems that are somewhat woody at the base, and rounded leaves with scalloped edges that often show a darker horseshoe-shaped band. Its flowers are grouped in dense, very showy umbels, in shades ranging from white to deep red, including pink and salmon.

It flowers almost continuously throughout spring and summer, as long as it receives enough sun and regular watering.

It is a horticultural hybrid developed from South African species of the genus Pelargonium, native to the Cape region. Cultivated in Europe since the 18th century, it is now one of the most widespread ornamental plants in gardens and on balconies throughout Spain.

Although in Spanish we call it “geranio”, it actually belongs to the genus Pelargonium and not to the genus Geranium, a distinct though related group of plants. The confusion dates back to the 18th century, when the first pelargoniums imported from South Africa were wrongly classified alongside the true geraniums because of the great similarity of their flowers and leaves.