The History of Pelargoniums

Scented pelargoniums arrived in the US with early colonists and were used as flavoring for foods as early as 1818.

The Dutch East India Company, established in 1602, became an important route between India and the Netherlands. The Cape of Good Hope was a stopover where the Dutch governor sent pelargoniums to Holland around 1700.

Thomas Johnson's revision of Gerard's Herbal in 1633 mentioned a South African species and recorded seeing it bloom in John Tradescant's garden in Lambeth in 1632. The species, referred to as, 'Geranium Indicum Noctu Odoratum, is now known as P triste today.

By 1732, many species had been imported to Britain. Dillenius, a professor of Botany at Oxford University, described African pelargoniums growing in Dr. James Sherard's garden at Eltham near London.

Scented pelargoniums arrived in the US with early colonists and were used as flavoring for foods as early as 1818. Thomas Jefferson was said to have maintained a small collection at the president's house including P. inquinans. By 1870 pelargoniums were very popular and according to Adelma Simmons, “even those who lived in remote farmhouses had access to several kinds.”