A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But would there be confusion on what plant you are talking about? There is with Geraniums.

Does the idea of a Geranium conjure up an image of a quaint Greek fishing village with window boxes planted out with pillar box red flowers?

Guess what, they aren't really Geraniums. They are Pelargonium zonale hybrids. Ok, so most people know them as Geraniums, and they are both in the family Geraniaceae , I will give you that.

But it is probably going to be a long time before we can get everyone in the gardening community to understand that Geraniums are a distinct genus from Zonale Pelargoniums. Even Linnaeus (who invented the plant classification system that we use) put Pelargonium spp. and Geranium spp. together in the same genus originally, along with another genus Erodium spp.

It wasn't until 1789 that the classification of these distinct genuses was changed in an article published in a Horticultural Journal by William Aiton.

True Geraniums ( Geranium spp.) , are probably best known commonly as Cranesbills. They can look similar to many of the scented leafed Pelargoniums. The biggest difference is that True Geraniums tend to be herbaceous, with finer stems, rather than having rigid stems like a small shrub and most of the Pelargoniums.

There are hundreds of species of True Geraniums found natively in many parts of the world.

Europe is the home to the Dusky Cranesbill (Geranium phaeum) , that is also known as the Mourning Widow due to its maroon-black flowers. It grows to around 1m x 1m. It is a most unusual flower colour to add to the garden.

Australia has the Geranium retrorsum , the Grassland Cranesbill. A low, scrambling plant that can grow to 1m across. It has dainty little pink flowers. It is not commonly found in cultivation, but can be found in the wild across Victoria , NSW and South Australia .

Asia and Europe share the Meadow Cranesbill (Geranium pratense) . Which as the name suggests is found in open, sunny positions. These flowers are a pale, bluish-mauve.

The next time you go to your local nursery and see a plant labelled Geranium, just have a second look to see what it really is, and smile to yourself wisely that you know what it really is.

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