Pelargonium cucullatum

The Pelargonium cucullatum is a dazzling botanical species related to the numerous horticultural hybrids that adorn our balconies. This scented geranium resembles a small bush with a spreading habit, covered in evergreen, velvety leaves, with upward-pointing leaves that take on a cone-like shape. They release a warm and spicy fragrance when touched. The plant offers a long particularly brilliant summer flowering, with bright purplish-pink flowers, touched with red and garnet. It thrives in full sun, in very well-drained soil, even limestone and occasionally dry in summer.

The Pelargonium cucculatum, also known as Funnel-leafed Pelargonium, is a perennial shrub species that is native to the southwestern region of the Cape Province in South Africa. Its natural environment, known as fynbos, is a plant formation characterised by adaptation to poor soils and a Mediterranean-type climate. This plant is one of the parents of the highly appreciated 'regale' hybrids since the late 19th century, which are still widely cultivated today. In its natural habitat, this vigorous pelargonium forms a shrub that can reach a height of over 2 metres (7 feet). In our climates, it also has a spreading bushy habit, reaching a height of 1 metre (3 feet) and a width of 1.20 metres (4 feet). Its pubescent branches bear evergreen, fan-shaped leaves, cup-shaped (cucullus means hood, funnel), slightly lobed, toothed, and velvety, measuring 4 cm (2in) long and 5 cm (2in) wide. Their colour is a fairly tender green, shaded with grey. Pelargonium cucullatum flowers in summer. The flowers are grouped in small umbels of 5 or 6. They are quite large, sometimes measuring over 4 cm (2in) in diameter, and are a very bright purplish-pink. The upper two petals are veined with red and slightly larger than the three lower petals. The entire plant is aromatic and fragrant.

Pelargonium cucculatum is a wonderful, exotic, and undemanding plant, as beautiful to look at as it is delightful to smell or pleasant to touch. So plant it, in a pot or in the ground, in a place where you can revel in it, along a path or in a large pot on the terrace or veranda, never too far from the house, or even inside the house, in a moderately heated room in winter. We were stopped in our tracks one day after the rain, in front of a bed of scented geraniums, and spent time immersing ourselves in a symphony of delicate fragrances. In mild climates, it is a plant that perfectly withstands summer drought and requires very little maintenance, making it valuable for dry gardens, near the sea.