Geranium, Pelargonium & Fuschia Society of Ontario

The meetings for the Geranium, Pelargonium & Fuschia Society of Ontario are always held at the Toronto Botanical Garden.

For more information on future meetings and shows phone 519-836-4487

For other sources visit The Canadian Geranium & Pelargonium Society

Geranium, Pelargonium & Fuschia Society of Ontario Show & Sale

Sunday, August 16, 2009.

Truth be told, even though I hadn't ever been to a Geranium (Pelargonium) Show, I thought I knew what to expect. There is usually a section for them in the various Toronto garden shows. I really do like Geraniums. I think I started to appreciate them more when I saw the collection at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

What I wasn't expecting was that the Toronto show would far surpass the Birmingham collection and be a fantastic source to obtain some of the most unusual and beautiful varieties.

The show was held at the Toronto Botanical Gardens. I decided to take transit into town and found that the botanic gardens were very easy to get to from the Eglinton subway station on the Lawrence East Bus 54. Originally the show was listed as starting at 10 am, but it was the judging that starts at 10 and the doors open to the public around noon. I was lucky to be let in early to photograph the show.

Geraniums are exceptional house or conservatory plants because they often do double duty. When they aren't in flower many varieties have beautiful variegated and coloured leaves.

Some varieties are grown exclusively because of the beautiful fragrance of the leaves.

There was a huge variety to see on display. If you were there you would have seen topiary varieties, miniatures, species (wild geraniums) and huge specimens on display.

One really nice thing was that this was an opportunity to view never before shown cultivars. Here, William Grainger shows his own cultivar, 'Grainger's Antique Rose'

The Rosebud Geraniums have been around since 1870. This variety is a spontaneous mutation of the old cultivar, 'Appleblossom Rosebud'.

Because this is such a new discovery it is not yet available for purchase. Check with William at future shows for its' release date. I did purchase another Rosebud variety with a lighter pink colour and some red in the leaves called 'Barbara Hines'. There were many varieties for sale at the show. Here William and Tanya Grainger display a selection of some of the varieties they were selling.

June Brett, MaryAnn Robinson and Pat Craven were also there selling some really marvellous plants. I was determined not to buy many, but ended up getting 5 different kinds. I ended up spending a total of $11. I couldn't believe how inexpensive everything was.

Here are some of the varieties I managed to bring home with me.

'Vancouver Centennial', with leaves that look like red maple