I'll have start off by saying that I really doubt I'll be of any help in answering your question!!

I'm growing 3 different types of hardy geraniums and don't have a clue of the actual names of any of them. I believe one of them to be a different species than the other 2 are.

I can tell you that I love these plants and wouldn't do without them in my shade garden! They start blooming in early spring, then stop when it starts getting really hot outside. They finished up probably about a week or so ago. The one I believe to be a different species than the other 2 is still blooming, but I don't think it'll go on much longer. When it starts cooling off again (I'll say early Sept.) they start back up again and go until first frost. They are evergreen and spread nicely, but are not invasive.

What I can do, if you're interested, is post a pic of the leaves and possibly someone here or over at the geranium forum could help identify which species they are.

I only grow Rozanne, and it's a little leggy but may be where I have it. Does okay, though. I did a little research, and it appears that it is appropriate to identify a type of geranium by their "name" because they're specific hybrids. I don't know enough about hybrid plant science to know if you can grow them by seed (maybe just by tissue culture or cuttings) but maybe you can look to their parents for the qualities you want. So:

'Rozanne' is a naturally occurring hybrid of Geranium himalayense and Geranium wallichianum 'Buxton's Variety' (blue)

'Ann Folkard' - hybrid between Geranium procurrens and Geranium psilostemon

'Patricia': hybrid of endressii x psilostemon (magenta & black centers)

So maybe somebody will make comments about how these named varieties or their parents fare here in the South.

Good luck, I hope this was somewhat helpful.

Rose
p.s. I think Ann Folkard is beautiful; I hope it gets a good review here.

Nosierosie,
Yes, there are geraniums which are known by "named" cultivar, I'm looking for species plants by botanical names only so that I can get the seeds from them. I have tried some of the cultivars and have not had as much success with them as I would like. I've seen some species plants in gardens on garden tours, and they are fantastic, and very long blooming!

GGG

The only species that has been successful, long term(10+ years), for me is G. macrorrizum. The hybrid cultivars are very attractive, but they didn't survive in my garden. Maybe they expected to be pampered, which I don't have time for.
Rb

Thanks Razorback, that is EXACTLY what I am needing to know. I'm not planning on fussing around much with the shade garden, so I'll go ahead and get some macrorrizum seed!

Thanks!
girlgroupgirl

Thanks from me also Razorback! Turns out this is one of the three that I grow and it's nice to know what one of the them is now.