Rose-scented geranium
Pelargonium graveolens
A tender, bushy evergreen subshrub from southern Africa grown almost everywhere for one reason: its deeply lobed, soft, gray-green leaves release an intense rose-with-a-hint-of-mint fragrance the moment you brush or pinch them. The honest point to get right up front is the name. This is a Pelargonium, not a hardy true Geranium (cranesbill) — the two are routinely confused because 'geranium' was attached to both centuries ago, but Pelargonium graveolens is frost-tender, while the perennial border geraniums most gardeners know are cold-hardy. Across most of North America it is grown as a warm-season annual, a patio container plant, or a houseplant overwintered indoors, not as a permanent landscape shrub. The small pinkish flowers are insignificant; the aromatic foliage is the entire point, and it is also the commercial source of rose-geranium essential oil and a kitchen herb for scenting teas, sugar, baked goods, and jellies.
Climate fit: narrow (21/100)
Container
Border
Light
Full sun / Part shade
Water
Moderate water
Mature size
24-48" tall · 24" apart
Hardy in zones
9a-11b
frosty to nearly frost-free winters
Native in Illinois
No
The leaves are the edible and useful part: the intensely rose-scented foliage is a classic flavoring used to scent teas, sugar, cakes and other baked goods, jellies, and syrups (a leaf laid in the bottom of a cake pan or steeped in cream perfumes the whole dish), and the same species is the commercial source of rose-geranium essential oil.
Cold hardiness
These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.
Now
Zone 6b
Plotwright
USDA Zone 6b
-5°F to 0°F
Won't grow here
Zone 7a
Plotwright
0°F to 5°F
Won't grow here
In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.
✕
Out of range today and still out of range in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.
Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...
Where this plant fits
Suitable across 32 ecoregions — 22 climate-resilient through 2070 · 10 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.
Arizona Mountains forests
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Atlantic coastal pine barrens
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California coastal sage and chaparral
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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests
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Central-Southern Cascades Forests
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Chihuahuan desert
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Chilean Matorral
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Eastern Australian temperate forests
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Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests
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Edwards Plateau savanna
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Plant this, not that
Better fit for this place
For Chicago, IL, these are replacement suggestions: similar plants with a stronger hardiness fit now and/or in 2050.
Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'
Autumn-joy stonecrop
A clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown for its showy late-season flower heads: masses of tiny star-like flowers borne in flattened cymes 3-6 inches across that emerge rosy pink, deepen to rose-red, and fade to coppery-rust as they die. Gray-green, fleshy, succulent-like leaves form upright clumps to about 2 feet. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant and attracts butterflies, and its foliage and dead inflorescences persist into winter for added interest.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Chrysanthemum x morifolium
Garden mum
The classic fall-flowering "garden mum" — a compact, clump-forming herbaceous perennial in the daisy family, grown for a prolific late-season flush of showy flowers from September to frost in shades of white, yellow, orange, bronze, purple, and red. A complex hybrid of five Chinese species, not native to North America; widely sold as a one-season annual but hardy in the ground roughly zones 5-9. Deer- and rabbit-resistant, and a welcome late-season nectar source when little else is blooming.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Leucanthemum × superbum
Shasta daisy
The classic white-and-yellow garden daisy — a clump-forming herbaceous perennial bearing showy single flower heads of white ray florets around a yellow central disc from midsummer into fall. A garden hybrid bred by Luther Burbank in the 1890s near snow-covered Mt. Shasta in northern California, it grows 2-3 feet tall and is a mainstay of the perennial border, cottage garden, and cutting garden. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant, attracts butterflies, and is resistant to deer and rabbit browsing.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Dianthus caryophyllus
Carnation
The classic clove-scented carnation, a short-lived evergreen perennial in the pink family grown for centuries for its frilled, spice-fragrant double flowers and tidy mounds of narrow blue-gray foliage. Native to the Mediterranean region, it thrives in full sun and lean, sharply drained, neutral-to-alkaline soil with steady but never soggy moisture, and is hardy in USDA zones 6a-9b. It is the florist's carnation and the parent of countless border and perpetual-flowering strains, prized as much for cutting as for the garden.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Similar plants
Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.
Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'
Autumn-joy stonecrop
A clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown for its showy late-season flower heads: masses of tiny star-like flowers borne in flattened cymes 3-6 inches across that emerge rosy pink, deepen to rose-red, and fade to coppery-rust as they die. Gray-green, fleshy, succulent-like leaves form upright clumps to about 2 feet. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant and attracts butterflies, and its foliage and dead inflorescences persist into winter for added interest.
Zantedeschia aethiopica
Calla lily
A bold, clumping rhizomatous perennial grown for its elegant, pure-white funnel-shaped flowers — actually a curved spathe wrapped around a yellow finger-like spadix — held on tall stems above large, glossy, arrow-shaped deep-green leaves from late winter into summer. Native to the wetlands and seeps of southern Africa, Zantedeschia aethiopica is the classic florist's calla and a striking water-margin and container plant, thriving in consistently moist to wet rich soil in full sun to part shade. It is tender (hardy in zones 8a-10b), where it overwinters in the ground and can be near-evergreen; colder gardeners grow it from lifted rhizomes or under heavy mulch. Two cautions are load-bearing: every part is toxic if eaten (calcium-oxalate raphides), and in mild, wet climates it can escape and naturalize into an invasive weed.
Dianthus caryophyllus
Carnation
The classic clove-scented carnation, a short-lived evergreen perennial in the pink family grown for centuries for its frilled, spice-fragrant double flowers and tidy mounds of narrow blue-gray foliage. Native to the Mediterranean region, it thrives in full sun and lean, sharply drained, neutral-to-alkaline soil with steady but never soggy moisture, and is hardy in USDA zones 6a-9b. It is the florist's carnation and the parent of countless border and perpetual-flowering strains, prized as much for cutting as for the garden.
Dahlia (hybrid)
Dahlia
A tuberous-rooted member of the aster family native to Mexico and Central America, grown for showy summer-to-fall blooms in nearly every color except blue. Hybrids in commerce span ten flower-form groups (single, anemone, collarette, waterlily, decorative, fall, pompon, cactus, semi-cactus, and miscellaneous) and range from 1 to 6 feet tall. Winter-hardy only to USDA Zones 7-10; in colder regions the tubers are lifted in fall and stored frost-free, so most North American gardeners grow it as a summer annual.
Chrysanthemum x morifolium
Garden mum
The classic fall-flowering "garden mum" — a compact, clump-forming herbaceous perennial in the daisy family, grown for a prolific late-season flush of showy flowers from September to frost in shades of white, yellow, orange, bronze, purple, and red. A complex hybrid of five Chinese species, not native to North America; widely sold as a one-season annual but hardy in the ground roughly zones 5-9. Deer- and rabbit-resistant, and a welcome late-season nectar source when little else is blooming.
Leucanthemum × superbum
Shasta daisy
The classic white-and-yellow garden daisy — a clump-forming herbaceous perennial bearing showy single flower heads of white ray florets around a yellow central disc from midsummer into fall. A garden hybrid bred by Luther Burbank in the 1890s near snow-covered Mt. Shasta in northern California, it grows 2-3 feet tall and is a mainstay of the perennial border, cottage garden, and cutting garden. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant, attracts butterflies, and is resistant to deer and rabbit browsing.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Rose-scented geranium (Pelargonium graveolens). Retrieved 2026, June 24, from https://plotwright.com/plants/pelargonium-graveolens
Sources for every fact
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GBIF
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
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Size
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