They’re tough as old boots, and reward us with vibrant blossoms.
They are the geraniums (or maybe they are pelargoniums, I’m not the world’s greatest gardener).
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Hello World · Walk along with me
Hello World 
I do love these geraniums and yes, they are super easy to grow and propagate!
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Loved all the comments, especially Andrew’s.
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I’ve had lavender ice cream and have made lavender cookies also. And of course just sprinkling nasturtium flowers over a salad!
Somewhere in my archives is a book on edible flowers.
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Mmm, and lavender creme brulee is nice too!
I was told about using nasturtium flowers in salads when I lived in London & tried growing them on my balcony, but mine were always a mass of blackfly so I didn’t fancy it much!
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The geranium used in food isn’t your flowery one. It’s what we call a scented geranium and the leaves come in a variety of perfumes – rose, lemon, pineapple etc. The Victorians used to put them at the side of steps so that their long skirts brushed them and they released their scent. Easy to grow here as a house plant.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/76049/
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Thank you, Andrew. I had been thinking that my plant would not be very tasty. I do like the flavour of nasturtium flowers, they’re nice and peppery.
A friend uses a species of lavender in her baking, I can testify that her lavender cookies are delicious.
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Ah, that’s interesting Andrew – I assumed geranium just meant geranium (or pelargonium)!
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They are definitely Pelargoniums – but to be fair they are more often than not called Geraniums. Both come from the family Geraniaceae – but there are some quite distinct differences, and certainly in Australia if you ask for geraniums this is what you’ll get given unless you’re buying from a specialist. If you want true Geraniums they more commonly called Species Geraniums or Cranesbill Geraniums.
There’s an explanation of the difference here: http://www.geraniumsonline.com/comments.htm
So – there’s your botanical nomenclature lesson for the day!
(It’s one of the many useless things the pedants in the gardening world have insisted on me be precise during my 20 years of describing gardens. Don’t start me on the others………………)
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Hi, Mary, and thank you for the detailed botanical information. I just went out to look closely at the flowers, and understand that they are Pelargoniums.
Now, if someone could step up to the plate to help me with Italian prepositions of space (I’m tearing my hair out), I’d be very happy.
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Geraniums are our most loved plant and seems to flower for most of the year. We are living 700 metres above sea level and winters are somewhat cold. I was always impressed by the geraniums on Parisian Balconies or window sills but it wasn’t till we moved away from humid Sydney and into the Southern Highlands that we have found our geranium heaven.
We also have cyclamen growing and flowering profusely during the winter months and are happy in the garden underneath some trees.
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We’re so darned spoiled in Australia, with the wealth of blossoming natives, as well as the others things that will grow in the right environment.
I did enjoy your post on The Map of Love … very droll.
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They are summer plants here in the US also. Although lots of the gardening TV shows have episodes on how to overwinter them here I’ve never had any success with that. Most of us consider them annuals here in Seattle. But now that I have only a north facing patio they don’t do well….but you should see my begonias in the summer!
I do remember the geraniums growing up in southern California that were as Yvonne says…”tough as old boots”.
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Begonias … you must have a nice green thumb, MIchelle.
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All I did was stick them in a pot and water them occasionally…they did the rest. Bloomed all summer and were still blooming in November when I left for Venice. The frost got them before I got back. I’ll get more in the spring since they were so easy.
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I seem to remember hearing in the UK that although nearly everyone calls them geraniums, they are strictly speaking pelargoniums. However I’m not a gardener either.
But being keener on my food, I can still taste a really memorable geranium ice cream I had back in the 80s (in London, at the long gone Stephen Bull restaurant). With something like a pear tart, maybe?
Daniela, your comment is interesting as I think they only grow in Britain – or at least in Scotland – in the summer!
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You really are adventurous with your dining habits, Caroline. Now, I have to do some research on the habitat(s) of these lovely flowers. (20) 🙂
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Whatever they are called they are lovely and vibrant….Im going with Geraniums too!!
(cold as hell…lol…here in the US NE…..zero with wind chill factor.)
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Uffa, and here I thought hell was hot, Linda. 🙂
I love the photos you’ve put on your blog so far, keep them coming.
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Geraniums? I thought they grow up only in winter! How can they live in the hot Queensland? (but maybe they live well and the problem is me, all my flowers and plants die 😦 )
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Daniela, it’s not you, it’s quei fiori cattivi! (Did I get the adjective correct?) 🙂
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send me your email and I will send you photo of mine. They are the only thing that will grow here unless you want pepper trees or tamerisk
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Hi, Joanne I’m reluctant to publish my email address on here! Sorry. I get enough spam as it is.
I love pepper trees, we had them in South Australia.
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It was bad earlier in the week, all but gone here today , but we could get more, we have been lucky here
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There in the same family, I reckon, Jan. I tend to call them all ‘geraniums’, unless someone corrects me. How’s the snow in your part of the world?
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Not sure but I thought they were one and the same,
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I like the astringent smell of the leaves when I trim off any ill looking ones.
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The leaves look like geraniums to me. But then I just plant what I like the looks of and only once in a while look at the tags. They are lovely.
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