Cranesbills vs Storksbills

~Happy Father's Day!~

It could be..should be..but is most likely not or maybe it is!  I went out the front door this morning to be greeted by the loveliest bunch of red Geraniums!  Last year, Mark bought me a little four inch pot with a tiny plant in it.  This wee plant had a huge head of red blooms on it that literally hid the rest of the plant.  A Geranium!  Needless to say, I was so happy that he had finally ceded to my wishes and bought me a plant instead of cut flowers.  I figure that if I have a plant, I can enjoy it for far longer than those cut roses.  Those last a few days and then they all start drooping and losing petals. With a plant, even if you have just a hint of a green thumb, can last for decades!  The little Geranium was transplanted into a much larger pot and flourished!  It soon filled its new home and put out buds!  Then this morning..an explosion of red!  Since the bush roses have been almost ruined by the moles or voles chewing through the roots, this happy plant with its showy blooms really brightened up the rose garden.  This fall, I will attempt to root several more so that the flower beds can be filled with Geraniums!  To keep the critters from chewing these, I will keep them in pots and "plant" the whole thing..pot and plant!  That way..come winter, I can just pull up the pot and shelter the plant from the harsh weather (if we get any cold this year!).

Red "Not Geraniums"!  What I thought were Geraniums are Pelargoniums!

But...what I have spent a lifetime calling a Geranium, may technically not be the only one of its name!  It seems that there is some confusion when discussing Geraniums.  This name applies to several different plants.  I had researched a bit about Geraniums to see if there were any helpful hints about propagating them.  As I read, I thought to myself.."That does not even sound like my plant!"  Sure enough as I looked a bit further down the page, the picture was of an entirely different plant!  Oh my!  This "Geranium" is actually a Pelargonium!  Not that I would ever be able to remember or even pronounce that name!  True Geraniums are called "Cranesbills" while my Pelargoniums are definitely "Storksbills".  Yeah..now lets have an argument about a stork being a crane or vice versa!  Anyway, years ago, these plants were all lumped together in one big family hence the confusion about their names.  Once you stick a moniker on something, folks are just hard-pressed to change.  I know I am!  Back in the day, some dude came along and tried to make things a bit more confusing..err..not confusing..by splitting the group in two.  So now you have Cranesbills and Storksbills.  Those labels create a enigma. As far as I can see, neither group bears any resemblance to a bird's bill and if that is a way of differentiating between the two, why pick birds that both have long straight bills?  Go with something a toucan and a hummingbird..give us a difference we can see!  Plus..each group still  contains a whole slew of plants making it even more confusing!  Some Storksbills look just like Cranesbills..ugh!

These are "Storksbills"..hmmm..could have fooled me!

But just for everyone's benefit here it is again..I explain..  Garden Geraniums are Pelargoniums not True Geraniums.  They are Storksbills as opposed to Cranesbills! And even if your Storksbill looks just like a Cranesbill, it could be a Geranium and not a Pelargonium!  Now..see..isn't that easy?  It is all clear as a bell now, right?  Nah..didn't think so!  That said..I think I will still call these Geraniums..always have..always will.  Some habits just die hard especially when one is not trying.