This dwarf Pelargonium (called Geranium) is shorter than a paperback (I mean not as tall) and the leaves are correspondingly small. A perfect little miniature plant with all the habits and leaf colouring of a zonal Pelargonium.

Dwarf Pelargonium Tips and Hints

• I guess you could grow them outside in summer in the rockery after the Aubretia and spring flowers have finished or in pots indoors and out..
• I have several cuttings coming along very nicely that I took from this plant in March as I wanted to reshape it for this summer and couldn’t waste the trimmings. I used gritty compost and a normal window ledge and all 6 have rooted. I will cut them back in Autumn for growing slowly onward next spring.
• I am looking  for other miniature Geraniums to complement this one as they are easier to maintain in good condition than the larger varieties.
• The following varieties are suitable for exhibitions and I might give one or two a try; Dibbinsdale, Dovepoint, Barnsdale and Clatterbridge according to Fir Trees nursery where I buy my Pelargoniums.
• I may also try a Dwarf Regal Pelargonium like Lily The pink or Tammy Ann

I have just bought a book on Dwarf Pelargoniums by Arthur.C.Boggis and in it he recounts the story of the first recorded miniature pelargonium. ‘In the middle of the 1850’s, a coal miner who lived in Derbyshire who was a great enthusiast of Pelargonium’s, planted his garden in late May. …He then had to spend the next few months in his bed due to illness and it was not until mid September that he was able to get out and look around his garden, which had suffered badly due to neglect and the effects of a dry hot summer. Many of his plants had died but looking at what was left of his Pelargonium’s, he was mystified about one plant, normally a bright red zonal with very dark green leaves.
This plant he found had shrunk to a small size, but still seemed to be thriving. From cutting’s he showed to a friend, a local nursery owner, they grew as many as they could for the next year. They gave the plant the name “Red Black Vesuvius”, and they went on sale to the public for the first time in 1858. This was the birth of the first miniature. ‘

Try growing them yourself and who knows we may meet at a show on some future occasion.

Other links and information on Pelargoniums

Top 10 Scented leaved Pelargoniums
Pelargonium Grandiflorum and other ‘Geraniums’
Stellar Pelargonium – Bird Dancer Geranium
Photogenic Pelargonium
The Secret of Geranium (Pelargonium) Cuttings
Growing Regal Geranium Pelargonium
Miniature Pelargonium
Tips for Growing Geraniums (Pelargonium)
Thompson & Morgan supply Pelargonium seeds and plants in season.