Pelargonium graveolens

Rose-scented pelargonium offers exceptional sensory appeal, its fragrant leaves prized in aromatic oils, perfumes and as a natural insect repellent. Delicate pink flowers add a soft touch of colour from spring through autumn.

Pelargonium graveolens is a fragrant-leaved South African shrubby pelargonium widely grown for the rose-and-citrus scent of its softly hairy grey-green leaves, used commercially in perfumery and aromatherapy. Small pink flowers appear in clusters from spring through autumn. The plant grows actively through cool damp Mediterranean winters and slows during summer heat. Hardy to -3°C with the plant regrowing from the base after frost, it is drought-tolerant once established, tolerates poor soils and salt spray, and provides aromatic foliage year-round when crushed or brushed in passing.

Reaching 60–100 cm tall and as wide, rose geranium is best sited where its fragrance can be enjoyed — beside paths and steps where leaves will be brushed, near outdoor seating, at the front of borders where it can be touched, and in terracotta pots on terraces and balconies. The grey-green foliage combines with the silver of Lavandula, Stachys byzantina and Westringia for a soft fragrant herb-garden composition; with the pink of Pelargonium peltatum, white Cistus and Erigeron karvinskianus for a romantic palette. Harvest leaves for fresh flower-water (hydrosol) and to flavour cakes, jams, syrups and infusions. Cut back hard in early spring.