Photo by Gayla Trail All Rights Reserved

I cringe when I think about what a geranium snob I used to be until I got over myself and admitted I didn’t know what I was talking about. Now-a-days I’ve got big love for all sorts of geraniums from those in the genus geranium to the scented pelargoniums. Though I have to admit I still dislike the odd-scented type with red flowers. Except when they are grown in a temperate climate and turn into a massive monster of twisted limbs. Then they are fantastic.

Anyways, Geranium macrorrhizum aka bigroot cranesbill is a particularly great geranium. The foliage has a pine-like scent that I find very refreshing. It’s also a tough-as-nails plant that can withstand just about anything you can throw at it. I used to grow some in a terracotta window box years back. I kept that window box outside year-round for several seasons and the plants came back miraculously every spring. I can think of few plants that would withstand those conditions.