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Pelargonium cordifolium (Heartleaf Geranium) - This subshrub (main stem is woody at the base, while the side branches are herbaceous) geranium has a dense rounded form to 3-5 feet tall and as wide with dull green 2 1/2-inch-long heart-shaped leaves. The lavender-pink flowers that have dark purple veins are produced from late winter into summer with peak bloom occurring in the spring.
Grows well in full coastal sun but tolerates light and even dense shade but blooms best with bright light. Irrigate regularly to occasionally in full sun but only requires an occasional watering in shade. Has proved hardy to at least 26 degrees F in our garden. A very nice plant as a specimen or even uses as a low informal hedge.
Pelargonium cordifolium occurs mainly near the coast in the southern and eastern Cape of South Africa in moist places in the fynbos (shrublands) or in and at the margins of the forests. The name for the genus comes from Johannes Burman (1707-1780, a Dutch physician and botanist whom Linnaeus worked for in his youth. Burman first used the name to describe some South African Geraniums in 1738. The name was derived from the Greek word 'pelargós' meaning "stork" because the seed head looks like that of a stork's beak. The specific epithet comes from the Latin words 'cor' (Greek 'kardia') meaning "heart" and 'folius' meaning "a leaf" in reference to the heart shape of the leaves. We have sold this nice plant since 1998.
The information about Pelargonium cordifolium that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
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