Geraniums have been valued in Fresno landscapes for decades owing to their beautiful flowers, lush foliage, and ease of growth. Less common are gardens with geraniums selected and grown for their distinctive scents and flavors.

A sampling of the most aromatic and flavorful scented geraniums is available for public viewing and sniffing at the Fresno County Master Gardeners' Garden of the Sun, the organization's demonstration garden at the corner of McKinley and Winery avenues in Fresno. The collection was assembled by Fresno Master Gardener Emily LaRue.

She became familiar with scented geraniums when she purchased a citronella-scented plant marketed as a mosquito repellent. It didn't have quite the desired effect on the pest as she'd hoped, but the sharp smell when crushed between her fingers or just brushed while walking by piqued her interest. She began researching the plant and collected varieties of scented geraniums which mimicked the fragrances of lemon, ginger, nutmeg and rose.

Although the word geranium is widely known and accepted, it is botanically inaccurate, according to the Sunset Western Garden Book. The proper term is pelargonium and includes the showy shrubs with large clusters of red, white, coral or orange clusters commonly thought of as geraniums, as well as the related species with strongly scented leaves and less significant flowers.

“I learned that you can make tea using the scented plant's dried leaves, or simply add a leaf for flavor to your hot or iced beverage. Also, jelly can be made using the extracted juices from pelargonium leaves,” she said. “The leaves can add an aroma to meat dishes, salads and desserts, or leave a fresh scent in a drawer or the car,” she said. “I didn't know about all that before.”`

To share what she learned, LaRue adopted one of nine beds designated for herbs at the demonstration garden. She visited nurseries all over Fresno and the Central Coast to find 10 different scented pelargoniums to plant in the space. Stepping stones crisscross the plot to give visitors up-close access to all the specimens. She has also added a pot with a scented pelargonium to the garden plot, demonstrating that the plants normally do very well in containers.

“Pelargoniums can be planted around a yard where people might sit and enjoy the fragrance, or walk by and sense the unexpected aroma,” she said.

The pelargoniums prefer full sun or part shade and well-drained soil. The plants should be watered regularly during the growing season in Fresno and are drought-tolerant when mature. Pruning can keep the plant from becoming woody and leggy. LaRue plans to maintain the demonstration plants in 24- to 30-inch-wide mounds. The Sunset Western Garden Book suggests scented pelargoniums may not survive a winter freeze in Fresno, but other sources report it doing just fine as a perennial.

“I'm really anxious to see how the garden grows,” LaRue said. “This is all experimental for me. It's going to be fun to watch.”

She said she'll continue searching for additional varieties of pelargoniums, which enthusiasts have bred in dozens of scents, including chocolate mint, cinnamon, eucalyptus, peppermint, orange, balsam and apple.

The Garden of the Sun, at 1750 N. Winery, Fresno, is open to visitors from 9 to 11 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the Master Gardeners Spring Garden Tour on Saturday, April 20. Admission is free.

Snails and slugs are among the most damaging pests in landscapes and gardens, including the UC Master Gardeners Children's Garden, part of the Garden of the Sun. Fresno County Master Gardeners are now launching an effort to manage the pest by releasing small, elongated decollate snails, the common garden snails' natural enemy.

A collection of small raised beds decorated with colorful scarecrows, quaint décor and several rabbit topiaries make up Mr. McGregor's Garden, but this one doesn't have mischievous Peter Rabbit nibbling on the fruit and vegetables. The main problem appears to be snails. Last fall, dozens of garden snails were found feeding on the leaves of napa cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi and broccoli plants.

The Master Gardeners have been searching for organic solutions to the problem. Picking them off one by one has been the first line of defense. The Farmers Almanac suggests spreading crushed egg shells to deter snails from garden beds, and we tried it. However, the UC Integrated Pest Management program reports that egg shells are an ineffective deterrent, and we have seen little improvement.

Another solution available to Fresno County gardeners are decollate snails. Decollates are small, thin, tapered and easy to distinguish from the familiar larger, rounded brown garden snails. The decollate is native to North Africa and the Mediterranean region. It was accidentally introduced to Southern California in the 1960s, and has since helped manage snails in gardens and agricultural settings throughout Southern California and parts of the San Joaquin Valley. It is legal to purchase and release decollates only in the California counties of Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Madera, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, San Diego, Tulare and Ventura. Because of its potential adverse impact on certain endangered and native mollusks, they should not be used in any other places in the state. Even in counties were decollate snails are permitted, they should not be introduced in or near natural areas because of the potential danger to native snails.

Retired IPM consultant Gary Woods of Fresno is something of a decollate snail enthusiast. He isn't sure how decollates found his western Fresno yard, perhaps coming to his home in a potted nursery plant, but he has appreciated their role in battling the garden snails so prevalent in the neighborhood. He has educated his neighbors about decollates and shared snails with any who would like to try the biological control strategy to control snails and slugs.

“Literature says it takes four to eight years for decollate snails to control brown snails, but my experience is they'll clean them out in a year,” Woods said.

The decollates are easy to find throughout Woods' front and back yards, under rocks and plants and nestled in plant litter. In February, Woods donated about 30 decollate snails to the Master Gardener's Children's Garden. The decollates were dispersed among strawberry and vegetable plants. While not a scientific trial, our experiment may lead to fewer snail and slug pests and less leaf damage in the coming years.