I don’t know about you @Dovefromabove but, personally, I grow a lot of hardy geraniums but very few pelargoniums - maybe stick 4 in the chimney pots by the front door. My in-laws (in their 80’s) however, have probably 2 hardy geraniums (which I gave them) but in the summer they have a mass of summer bedding / hanging baskets filled with pelargoniums. Since the 50’s they have known them only as ‘geraniums’ and refuse to be educated otherwise.
I think the whole summer bedding thing is a bit generational and it is probably older gardeners who buy the masses of pelargoniums and other bedding plants. Perhaps companies like T&M are wary of alienating their core market for these plants.
But you’re right. It is very irritating and confusing - and your suggestion would seem a good compromise.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
I take your point @Topbird, but isn’t the point of a specialist gardening magazine to inform its readers? Or does it exist solely to sell advertising space?
Discuss 😉 🥄
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I would find them called ‘bedding geraniums’ equally confusing, as I tend to think of bedding plants as annuals, which pelargoniums are not, but that could just be me.
If you click on the TM link, on their website, under the heading of Geranium, the listing does state alternative names as Pelargonium, Zonal Geranium, Zonal Pelargonium then Half-hardy perennial. I can only assume that most of their customers search for ‘geraniums’ when they want to buy pelargoniums. It is irritatingly perpetuating the confusion, but I guess if most of their customers search for ‘geraniums’ when they want pelargoniums, they are going with what works best for their customer base/business.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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My in-laws (in their 80’s) however, have probably 2 hardy geraniums (which I gave them) but in the summer they have a mass of summer bedding / hanging baskets filled with pelargoniums. Since the 50’s they have known them only as ‘geraniums’ and refuse to be educated otherwise.
I think the whole summer bedding thing is a bit generational and it is probably older gardeners who buy the masses of pelargoniums and other bedding plants. Perhaps companies like T&M are wary of alienating their core market for these plants.
But you’re right. It is very irritating and confusing - and your suggestion would seem a good compromise.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Maybe this will help.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/garden/104139907/pelargoniums-vs-geraniums-how-to-tell-the-difference
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
If you click on the TM link, on their website, under the heading of Geranium, the listing does state alternative names as Pelargonium, Zonal Geranium, Zonal Pelargonium then Half-hardy perennial. I can only assume that most of their customers search for ‘geraniums’ when they want to buy pelargoniums. It is irritatingly perpetuating the confusion, but I guess if most of their customers search for ‘geraniums’ when they want pelargoniums, they are going with what works best for their customer base/business.