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In Bloom

Look for Geranium maderense in by the Entry Garden and above the Wild Fowl Pond.

Location Scientific Name Geranium maderense Common Name Madeira Cranesbill Family Geraniaceae Plant Type Herbaceous Biennial Environment Full sun to semi-shaded locations work best. If you want millions more of this plant, do not remove the spent seed heads and allow it to self sow. The old leaves should not be removed too soon - particularly if it is in an exposed location, as the plant uses them to prop itself up to resist wind loosening. Bloom Late winter to late summer. Uses Attractive as an insectiary plant. More Info British Pelargonium and Geranium Society Annie's Annuals Geraniaceae Nursery

Who would ever think this plant was a geranium? Two feet tall, three foot long fleshy branches with leaves radiating out in all directions from a thick woody trunk, a purple blaze of quarter size flowers clustered together at the ends of hairy petioles, make this variety of geranium unlike any other!

Geranium maderense is native to Madeira, an island off the coast of Portugal, and is an example of what can happen, botanically speaking, to a seed that may have floated on driftwood, carried in a bird's beak, caught in the hoof of a goat, or blown by the wind to its new island home.

In its struggle to survive, it underwent changes from being in a different climate, among different predators and pollinators, and facing competition from new and different plants. Some, or a combination of all of these factors, caused the seed to evolve and change over vast periods of time into a geranium wildly different from the ones we know so well and grow in our gardens and window boxes.

Contributors: Docents Joanne Taylor and Kathy McNeil

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Magnolia campbellii January	Magnolia denudata February	Magnolia x veitchii March
Iris douglasiana April

Acer palmatum 'Sango kaku' January	Magnolia campbellii 'Darjeeling' February	Bomarea spp. March
Rhododendron occidentale April	Polystichum munitum May	x Chiranthofremontia lenzii June
Salvia leucantha July	Hydrangea seemannii August	Wollemia nobilis September
Cyathea cooperi October	Pinus radiata November	Correa spp. December

Garrya elliptica January	Magnolia x soulangeana February	Senecio glastifolius March
Ribes spp. April	Oxalis oregana May	Calandrinia grandiflora June
Taxus baccata July	Romneya coulteri August	Passiflora parritae September
Malvaviscus arboreus October	Monterey Cypress November	Aloe arborescens December

Aloe plicatilis January	Banksia seminuda February	Zantedeschia aethiopica March
Magnolia laevifolia April	Araucaria heterophylla May	Toxicodendron diversilobum June
Clarkia sp. July	Agapanthus August	Brugmansia September
Cedrus spp. October	Protea repens November	Camellia sinensis December

Thujopsis dolabrata January	Gordonia longicarpa February	Rojasianthe superba March
Echium spp. April	Iris douglasiana May	Digitalis purpurea June
Felicia amelloides July	Ceroxylon quindiuense August	Amaryllis belladonna September
Ginkgo biloba October	Acer morrisonense November	Ilex aquifolium December

Picea sitchensis January	Telanthophora grandifolia February	Aeonium arboreum 'Schwartzkopf' March
Leptospermum April	Salvia gesneraeflora May	Lavandula spp. June
Pelargonium July	Fuchsia paniculata August	Luma apiculata September
Luculia October	Arbutus unedo November	Cycad December

Restionaceae January	Hellebores February	Ceanothus March
Rhododendron April	Psoralea pinnata May	Fremontodendron californicum June
Leucadendron argenteum July	Crocosmia August	Gunnera tinctoria September
Pellaea rotundifolia October	Fuchsia boliviana November	Erica canaliculata December

Magnolia campbelli January	Magnolia denudata February	Camellia March
Geranium maderense April	Acmena smithii May	Eschscholzia californica June
Dendromecon harfordii July	Romneya coulteri August	Eupatorium purpureum September
Epilobium canum sp. October	Grevillea spp. November	Drimys winteri December