Hello plant friends,
Fresh, leafy, green and gently floral—Rose Geranium opens like morning light through garden leaves. There’s a brightness here, almost prickly, like sparkling lemonade, resting on a soft cushion of rosy warmth. Not powdery. Not perfumey. Just beautiful, balanced, and quietly radiant.
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What I love most is its versatility. It lends calm and round notes to citrus, elegance to spice, and harmony to heavier florals like ylang ylang or rose absolute. It threads itself through a blend, holding things together without ever taking center stage. It provides lift Rose and heaver floral notes such as Mimosa and Labdanum.
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Molecularly, it’s rich in geraniol, citronellol, and linalool—compounds known for their soothing, balancing qualities, especially for women. But also; great at insect repelling! That makes Rose Geranium not just beautiful, but helpful: supporting the nervous system, protecting us, and softening emotional edges.
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It’s often mistaken for a “rosier” rose, but it’s really something all its own—greener, fresher, invigorating, completely in its own energy.
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A quiet, slightly undervalued cornerstone in natural perfumery and just alround good to have for all of its beautiful qualities. It is safe to use on the skin, but always in mindful quantities.
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With love,
Merle
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Not the flower, but the leaf
When we think of geranium, it’s often the bright, hardy flowers on balconies and garden paths that come to mind. But hidden within one particular variety, the rose geranium is a fragrance carried not by its flowers, but by its leaves. These leaves hold an essential oil with a soft, rosy scent, gently layered with notes of citrus and mint.
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Once cultivated high in the mountains of Réunion, rose geranium now grows mainly in Egypt, where its fragrant leaves are carefully harvested and distilled into oil and absolute. In perfumery, it brings a fresh, uplifting character and a natural softness to compositions. A delicate balance between green brightness and floral warmth.
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Since the 19th century, this plant has quietly played a role in fragrance traditions. More than just a decorative plant, rose geranium reminds us that some of nature’s most beautiful offerings reveal themselves not in plain sight, but in the subtler details: a scent released by a simple touch of a leaf.
In your box this month:
Rose Geranium essential oil from Egypt
Attract 2ml
Where Rose Geranium finds its home​
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Rose geranium belongs to the Pelargonium family, a plant native to South Africa where it still grows wild in the hills and fields. Although often called “geranium,” the true name is Pelargonium, and within this genus, only one variety is used in perfumery: Pelargonium x hybridum 'Rosat', better known as rose geranium.
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Today, Egypt is the world’s leading producer. The plant was introduced there in the mid-20th century, where it found the warmth and soil it needed to thrive. Alongside Egypt, China has become an important grower, and Madagascar also contributes to the global harvest. Each region adds its own subtle character to the oil, shaped by climate, soil, and the hands that tend the plants. For example: essential oils from Egypt tend to be greener and more aromatic, while those from China lean towards the floral. The variety cultivated in Madagascar is known for its especially rosy, sweet, and lightly spiced profile.
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Etymology
The name Pelargonium comes from the Greek word pelargos, meaning stork, a nod to the shape of the plant’s fruit, which resembles a bird’s beak. Similarly, the name geranium is derived from geranos, the Greek word for crane, for the very same reason.
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The variety used in perfumery carries the name rosat, a term rooted in the Latin rosatus, meaning “scented with roses” or “rose-like”. It’s a fitting name for a plant whose leaves hold a fragrance gently reminiscent of fresh rose petals, softened by green, citrusy undertones.
The story of Rose Geranium
Native to South Africa, pelargoniums have long held an important place in local folk medicine. Their leaves and flowers were used to treat a variety of ailments, valued both for their soothing properties and their fresh, uplifting scent. In the 18th century, European seafarers traveling along the Spice Routes stopped at the Cape of Good Hope and carried these plants back to Europe, drawn by their ornamental beauty and therapeutic qualities.
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Among those early explorers was Paul Hermann, a physician and botanist working for the Dutch East India Company, who became one of the first to formally describe the plant. The Dutch quickly introduced geranium to their gardens, followed by France and England. It wasn’t long before the plant’s medicinal uses were embraced as well.
Paradisus batavus by Paul Hermann, Leyden, 2nd Edn. 1705
Rose geranium, prized for its delicate, rose-like scent, was eventually cultivated for its essential oil. It found a natural home in the region of Grasse, the historic heart of French perfumery, before being planted in the former French colonies.
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Today, geranium and its many varieties remain beloved in temperate climates, brightening balconies, terraces, and gardens with their hardy nature. Unfussy and resilient, the plant blooms from the first warmth of May until the autumn frosts, and with care, can flower for decades. Beyond its decorative charm, geranium has earned its place in both perfumery and natural remedies, valued for its fresh, floral character and gentle therapeutic virtues.
Lilium Africanum Polyanthos in Paradisus batavus, 1698
Medicinal properties
In South Africa, geranium have long been part of traditional healing practices. One species in particular was used to treat bronchitis and other respiratory ailments. In the early 20th century, this local remedy caught the attention of a young Englishman, Charles Henry Stevens. Suffering from tuberculosis, a disease with no known cure at the time, Stevens traveled to South Africa in search of relief. There, he was treated by a Zulu healer, who prescribed generous doses of Geranium. Remarkably, within three months, Stevens had recovered.
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Inspired by his experience, he began importing the plant’s roots to Europe and created a remedy he called umckaloabo, named after Zulu words meaning “fever,” “cough,” and “chest pain.” Although initially dismissed by the British Medical Association, the healing properties of this specific species, the Pelargonium sidoides, were later confirmed by modern research in the 1970s. Rich in coumarins, tannins, and gallic acids, the plant was found to inhibit bacteria and viruses often responsible for respiratory infections. It also supports the body’s immune response, making it especially valuable for conditions like bronchitis and sinusitis.
Sangomas are the traditional healers of South Africa. The term "sangoma" is Zulu, but is often used for healers from other communities further north in Africa.
A print depicting the remedy known as Umckaloabo, named after Zulu words for “fever,” “cough,” and “chest pain.” It tells the story of how generous doses of geranium root were once used to ease the symptoms of tuberculosis. From the Dust jacket of Anonymous (1931b) – The Doom of 150,000 People, Reason Publishing Co., London.
Properties of the essential oil
Beyond its medicinal roots, the essential oil of rose geranium carries soothing and restorative benefits for the skin. It helps calm redness, blemishes and irritation, and is often used in natural skincare for its regenerative properties. It’s also known for its effectiveness against fungal infections. In gardens, the plant’s aromatic leaves do more than scent the air. Rich in essential oils, they naturally repel mosquitoes and other insects, making rose geranium as practical as it is fragrant.
Paganism, white magic and folklore
Throughout history, geranium has held a special place not only in gardens and apothecaries, but also in folklore and natural magic. In various traditions of white magic, geraniums are valued for their protective qualities. All flowering geraniums were believed to shield the home and those within it, each color carrying its own meaning: pink flowers were used in charms to invite love, white blossoms were linked to fertility, and red geraniums were thought to restore energy and vitality. Though, according to legend, one needed to be surrounded by at least sixty of them to feel their full effect.
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Stories tell of ‘witches’ who planted borders of red geraniums around their homes. It was said that the petals would subtly turn toward anyone approaching, offering a quiet, magical warning of a visitor’s arrival. In countryside folklore, geraniums were also believed to protect against snakes, captured in the old saying: “The snake doesn’t go where geranium grows.”
“The snake doesn’t go where geranium grows.”​
Inviting love
Fertility
Restoring energy
In ritual practices, pink geraniums found their way into love spells and sachets, while their petals were sometimes rubbed on door handles and windowsills to guard against unwanted intrusions. White geraniums played a role in fertility rites for women. In Mexico, traditional healers known as curanderos would purify those in need by bathing them in the scent of red geranium blossoms, using the plant’s aromatic effusion as a cleansing, protective ritual.
Geranium in art & everyday life
In the early 19th century, geraniums were considered a rare and precious luxury. It wasn’t until the rise of glass hothouses in the mid-1800s that these vibrant plants became widely accessible. Hardy, affordable and able to bloom through the colder months, geraniums soon found their way into homes across all social classes, brightening interiors with their cheerful presence.
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In the art of the Victorian era, geraniums came to symbolize warmth, domesticity, and the ideal home. Paintings from this period often depict genre scenes with pots of geraniums placed on windowsills, typically beside a woman. Tending to flowers in these sunlit alcoves was seen as a gentle, respectable pastime for women. A way to foster patience, care and moral virtue, values that were central to Victorian culture.
A Victorian summer lounge in Belgium in 1895. By Marcel Vanderkindere.
Around 1893, the American painter Louis Paul Dessar captured this sentiment in Clotilde Sewing by Her Window, where three pots of geraniums sit quietly behind lace curtains, keeping the young woman silent company as she sews. In many homes, the humble potted geranium became more than simple decoration. It served as a companion of sorts for those in solitude (young women awaiting marriage, widows, or the unwell) offering a small, constant reminder of life’s resilience and beauty within the home.
Clotilde Sewing by Her Window - Louis Paul Dessar (1893)
Harvesting geranium for perfumery
​Each year, from mid-March to mid-April, the geranium fields of Egypt shift to a soft rosy-mauve hue as the plants enter their brief flowering season. Soon after, the delicate blooms fall, and the plants begin a vigorous growth phase, preparing themselves for the warmth they need to reach full maturity.
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The harvest is guided not by strict dates, but by the rhythm of the land and the heat of the season. Experienced growers know the signs: when the deep green leaves turn a softer yellow-green, and the stems crush gently rather than snapping, the geranium is ready :)
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Interestingly, the quality of the essential oil shifts as the season unfolds. Early harvests are rich in geraniol, with a greener, brighter scent. Later in the season, the plants produce more citronellol, giving the oil a rounder, rosier character.
Rwandan women learning how to prepare an open geranium nursery from tisserandinstitute.com
The scent of Rose Geranium
The essential oil of Egyptian rose geranium carries a beautifully full and intense scent. It’s unmistakably rosy, yet balanced by a green, lively edge. While it echoes the familiar softness of rose, there’s also a bright, fresh quality that sets it apart.
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I love pairing it with Bulgarian rose absolute (as we did with our perfume Attract). Where the absolute evokes a classic, romantic impression of rose and the rose geranium adds a modern lift, giving the composition a touch of freshness and character. It blends effortlessly with other materials, enhancing floral notes while also extending the lasting power of a fragrance on the skin.
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Rose geranium has a naturally intriguing scent profile: subtly sweet, awakening and already so complete in itself. It acts as a true heart note, with an elegant progression as it warms and settles on the skin. It’s a beautiful ingredient to experiment with, even in simple blends of perfume alcohol and oils. The way it evolves makes it a joy to work with, it's a note that both grounds and brightens a composition at once.
A botanical treat: homemade Geranium wine
For those who love to bring nature into the kitchen, rose geranium offers more than just a beautiful scent, it can also flavor a delicate, floral wine!! This simple recipe is a lovely way to capture the plant’s aromatic character in a drink meant to be shared.
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What you’ll need:
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100 grams of fresh rose geranium leaves
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25 cl of white rum
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1 bottle of rosé wine
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2 glasses of sugar syrup
How to make it:
Rinse the geranium leaves gently and slice them into strips. Infuse the leaves in warm sugar syrup for about two hours, allowing their soft, rosy fragrance to release. Then, stir in the white rum and leave the mixture to macerate overnight.
The next morning, strain out the leaves, add a bottle of chilled rosé wine, and your geranium wine is ready to enjoy. Best served cold, this floral-infused drink makes a light, fragrant aperitif!
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The sound of Rose Geranium
Reach out or say hi
Thank you so much for accompanying me on this fascinating journey through the realm of perfuming materials, where we explore not only the sensory beauty of scents but also the deeper intelligence of plants and their natural essences. It’s been a wonderful adventure, navigating the intricacies of fragrance and nature’s wisdom. I’d love to hear your thoughts and insights on this experience!
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or DM @linguaplanta