From South Africa with love ...

Scientific name: Pelagonium x hortorum

The beautiful garden common geraniums are indigenous to South Africa and then were a delight to the gardens of European countries. It further spread across the globe with many more hybrids being produced by gardeners with improved floral varieties. The succulent leaves are alternate and palmately lobbed or pinnate. The plants are used for bedding, borders and also maintained in containers. Bears 4 to 5 inch diameter flower clusters with many small florets arranged in a hemi-sphere. The prolific flowers range in colours from white, magenta, orange or even double colours by forming vibrant margins around the petals. While i was working in Bangalore, my friend introduced me to this plant and presented me some cuttings and had three varieties in my garden. Recently on my visit to the Uncle and Aunt in Mysore, i had a happy feeling seeing many garden varieties in their home. I took this photograph in the cloudy evening of 4th September 2011, as light was falling rapidly.