Geraniums gardeners' favorite

PAYSON — As a child, I was fascinated by geraniums. One great-aunt collected them and shared them with the rest of the family. My grandmother always had a stem or two growing in her kitchen window. Later, one favorite schoolteacher filled the windowsill with these fragrant flowers.

Later, I found that, like many others, I was calling the plants by the wrong name. There are actually two groups of plants known as geraniums. The showy, flowering geraniums, normally grown as indoor and outdoor plants in Utah, are members of the genus Pelargonium. They are subtropical in origin and are treated as annuals in Utah since they are not cold hardy.

Members of the Geranium genus are winter-hardy outdoor plants. They include several native Utah wildflowers and are usually called "hardy geraniums" or cranesbills. They are good plants for perennial gardens and come in many cultivars. Hardy geraniums are often grown as much for their decorative foliage as for their flowers.

For information about Pelargoniums — or bedding geraniums — I visited Brad Olson at Olson's Garden Shoppe in Payson. His greenhouses were brimming with dozens of varieties.

When I asked how many of these plants he grows each year, he replied, "Oh, we don't do too many — just enough for our own use — that is only about 5,000 plants."

Olson operates their retail outlet along with his wife, Chris, and other family members. He is particularly proud that they grow almost all of their bedding plants themselves.

The Olsons opened their shop at the present location in 1980, but the original business dates back to Olson's grandfather, who started growing plants in Santaquin in 1942. He later bought a feed store in Payson and operated a garden center there for many years.

While walking through the greenhouses, it became apparent that choosing the plants is not easy. There are many forms, types and species available with great variation in leaf, flower and growth characteristics.

Olson follows the trade designation of referring to seed geraniums as those that come from seed and zonal geraniums as those that are propagated by vegetative cuttings. Keep in mind that either of these might have rings — or zones — on the leaves.

"We prefer to go with the zonal or cutting geraniums. We think we get a lot more choice in the colors, and we think they grow better and the flowers look better," Olson said. "The seed geraniums are sometimes cheaper, but we like the others."