Walk down the bedding plant aisle in spring and you will see the same trailing plant tagged in three or four ways. One pot says ivy geranium. The next says trailing geranium. A third lists a long Latin name. They are all the same plant, so the labels can fool you. The Latin name on the tag is written as Pelargonium peltatum. There are a few ivy geranium other names that you will see on the tags at the shop. The most common of these is ivy leaf geranium, with trailing geranium close behind. A few sellers also list it as cascading geranium on the tag.
The plant comes from a group of bloomers that growers call by the name geranium. In Latin, the full botanical name of this plant is written as Pelargonium peltatum. The plant earned its common names from the way it grows and the shape of the leaves. The stems trail and spill over the edge of your pot or window box. So a lot of growers call the plant trailing or cascading. The leaves are smooth and thick, and you will notice they look a lot like the leaves of English ivy. That likeness gave the plant the popular name you see today.
The name ivy leaf geranium is the one you will run into most often at a plant shop. One garden school in Colorado also sells it as the ivy vining geranium. That name points to the same trailing habit you can see in the pot. So the plant carries at least four common names plus its one proper Latin name. None of these names is wrong. They each point to a real trait of the plant. Sellers just pick the one that reads best on a tag, and you may even see it sold as ivy pelargonium.
The word peltatum is the part worth a closer look. It points to the shield-shaped, peltate leaves on the plant. On these leaves, the stem joins near the heart of the leaf and not at the edge. That clue is the fast way to tell this plant from the upright zonal kind you see in flower beds. One trails and has glossy shield leaves. The other stands up tall with soft, round leaves and a dark ring. Once you can spot that shield leaf, you can name the plant with no tag at all.
Here is the part that trips a lot of people up. In spite of the geranium name, each of these plants is a pelargonium and not a true wild geranium. The true hardy kind is often sold as cranesbill, and that whole other group lives through cold winters in the ground. This trailing plant is killed off by frost, and most folks grow the plant as an annual. So the word geranium on the tag is just a common name. You should not read it as a sign that your plant will live through winter where you live.
When you shop, look for any of these names and you have found the right plant. A lot of pots also carry a series name like Balcon or Cascade. That series name tells you the breeding line and the flower color, not a whole new kind of plant. There is one more thing for you to watch for. Do not mix up ivy geranium with the true ivy that we call Hedera. Hedera is a climbing vine grown for its leaves, while this one is a trailing plant grown for its bloom. The leaf shape gives a nod to ivy, but the two plants are not kin at all.
Read the full article: Ivy Geranium Care: Grow Trailing Blooms
