Geraniums

On a day like today, I would love to be able to go out and garden. Unfortunately, I do not enjoy getting wet and mucky. Might have to go and get some Wellingtons, like the British since it has rained nearly everyday for about a week. Hope that the farmers are happy.

I did manage to get to some garden centres today and bought some of the plants that are on sale. It is not the end of the gardening season but some of the temporary centres on clearing up. One of my purchases was a geranium. I do love the blooms which keep coming all summer.

Once geraniums were only found in sunny South Africa. Hard to believe today when nearly every second home has some in the garden or a planter.In 1680, Dutchman Paul Hermann, professor of botany at the Royal Botanic Gardens collected geraniums that ten years later were well established at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. About 20 varieties made their way to Europe over the next 90 years.

In the early 1800's, the geranium became a leading contributor to a gardening revolution that dramatically transformed the appearance of gardens forever. Victorian flower beds became a riot of colour. No park or public garden omitted geraniums from the flower bed.

I can not imagine gardens without at least one geranium with its guaranteed burst of colour.