Mr. Morf is one of the most well known and famous hybridisers in Australia. His wife, Mrs. Joan Morf, has kindly sent us this profile of her husband and his work with geraniums.
'For a person to have served four years apprenticeship in the nursery trade in Switzerland, starting in the afternoon of the day he left school at age 14, winning a one year scholarship at the top horticultural school in Zurich, it is practically a foregone conclusion that that person would go on to spend his life doing the only thing he ever wanted to do - grow plants!
His career was interrupted by the Second World War and when he was able to return to the nursery he had established in Lugano, he was 'so disheartened by its run down condition and also the inability of the Swiss growers to compete in the cut flower trade with stock being sent from Holland, that his thoughts turned to the possibility of migration.
He answered an advertisement in a trade paper, requiring a manager for a rose farm in Western Australia, secured the job and was soon on his way to a new life. The job was a disappointment but he loved Australia and could see the opportunities available for a person with initiative and prepared to work. He moved to Sydney where he met up with a Swiss colleague and they worked together for a while and then decided to see what Melbourne had to offer.
It wasn't long before Geof had bought 3 1/2 acres in Mount Macedon with the idea of growing Alpine plants, the stock of which he imported from Switzerland. The Mount Macedon climate was very suitable for this purpose and he also planted a large area of hydrangeas for the cut flower trade. His ultimate aim was to return to his old love of pot plant growing and with this in mind, he made yet another move, this time to Melbourne and established the Margot Nursery.
As the modern pelargonium family was hardly known in Australia, Geof decided to specialise in this variety of plant and set about importing stock from Switzerland - this was in 1956. From that time on, the bulk of his annual output of plants was pelargoniums - regal, zonal and ivy leaf. As he began to feel more settled, his thoughts turned to his apprenticeship days when he had been fascinated by the hybridising which was carried out by his employer and he started to experiment with the regal pelargonium. He produced some varieties which he felt were sufficiently different from any which were already on the market and in 1959 he released five, 'Fireglow', 'Mount Macedon', 'Mount Feathertop', 'Mount Dandenong' and 'Moomba'. It was not, however, until after his move to Newcastle, N.S.W. in 1962 that Geof really turned his attention wholeheartedly to hybridising.
With land available and suitable climate, he regularly planted out 1/2 acre of ground with 2,000 - 3,000 seedlings and was well satisfied if he ot as many as six plants which were worth going on with Some years there were more! In the early sixties, pelargoniums were really booming and there were more lovely varieties in the market, mostly imported from Europe and the U.S.A. Morf's Margot Nurseries were marketing plants from both sources as well as Geof's own varieties until the day when a consignment of twelve new zonals arrived from America and every variety was bright red in colour and every one similar to the other. Geof then decided to stop importing and concentrate on producing our own Australian varieties.
Ill health brought about Geofs retirement from his nursery in 1977, - that could not kill his love of the pelargonium family but it curtailed his production of new varieties - until the Australian Geranium Society's Seminar 1983, when a paper from England was read about the new Harlequin strain of ivy leaf geraniums. This expounded a method of producing a new variety of ivy leaf geranium by grafting together two cultivars, one being 'Rouletta', with the purpose of transferring the white "splash" on to a plain coloured flower. To our "traditional" nurseryman, this sounded too fantastic to be true but curiosity got the better of him and he made several experimental grafts and then patiently awaited the results. Some did not 'take' but those that did grow together soon produced new strains so our hybridiser was off again and now has six varieties of this new method registered to his credit. He adopted the prefix "ZEEBRA" to distinguish it from the Harlequins and they are listed in Geof's list.
| Melody | D. shading light-deep rose. |
| Peach Melba | D. creamy apricot. |
| Rose Amelia | D. luminous rose, shot crimson. Luminous rose shot crimson, large flat florets, large trusses on long stems. |
| Silver Celebration | D. white flushed rose pink. White, edged rose Double white with red petal edges. Tall. |
| Wedding Day | D. pure white, large heads, perfect form. White |
| Little Primula | S. pale rose pink, distinctive red phlox eye. White with cherry pink centre |
| Mandarin | S. warm orange. |
| Carousel | SD. wine red, light reverse all petals, large heads, "Irene" type with similar growth habit. Very double ruffled lavender |
| Coral Reef | SD. rose/salmon, beautiful buds. |
| Debutante | SD. soft salmon, white eye. Large cup shaped blooms, cream buds, opening to soft salmon pink. |
| Encore | SD. coral/orange. Gold tricolour with scalloped leaf. One of the brightest tri-colours. Double red flowers. |
| Gloriosa | SD. begonia/pink, white eye. |
| High Score | SD. true "Irene" type seedling, orange scarlet. Irene type. Orange scarlet, large heads, strong growing, free blooming. |
| New Arrival | SD. delicate baby pink. Baby pink flushed deeper at base of petals |
| Pauline | SD. salmon pink, "lrene" type. |
| Rose Parade | SD. luminous neyron rose. |
| Eric Hoskins | D. deep salmon orange with silver sheen. Dark green leaf distinct black zone. Double two-toned salmon flowers. Compact growth. Salmon orange, zoned leaf |
| Amelia | D. lilac rose flower, dark green leaf. |
| Cottontail | D. pure white, very dark leaf. |
| Erica | D. rose pink, black zone in leaf |
| Valmai | D. white, very compact. |
| Zeebra Allure | D. salmon rose, white striped, perfect form. |
| Zeebra Fire | D. bright red, striped white, striking. Bright red striped white. Fire red, striped white. |
| Zeebra Girl | D. giroflee purple, striped or blotched white. |
| Zeebra Lee | D. delicate rose pink, striped white. Large soft pink, striped white |
| Red Giroflee | rose bengal, rosebud. Purplish red rosebud, good basket. Purplish red, strong grower |
| Zeebra Coco | SD. deep rose with white blotches. |
| Zeebra Sal | SD. salmon striped white, large flower. |
| Apollo | deepest ox blood red, black blotch all petals, |
| Aquarius | all white, extra wavy petals. Pure white wavy petals large trusses. |
| Aureole | claret rose, white edge to all petals, white throat. |
| Birthday Girl | orchid pink, upper petals feathered magenta. |
| Black Gold | large jet black. |
| Blizzard | white with red blotch. |
| Blue Bird | blue/mauve, silver sheen giving effect of sky blue. Blue mauve with a silvery sheen, black blotch in upper petals. |
| Capricorn | pale flesh pink, tan blotches. Pale flesh pink white reverse, top petals veined and blotched reddish tan. |
| Carmine Joy | clear carmine, shading to white throat. |
| Cassarta | luminous rose - crimson blotches. |
| Cattleya | orchid pink self. |
| Columbia | orange, chestnut blotches top petals. Single, stunning fluorescent scarlet with wide petals. Huge flower heads. Very eye-catching! |
| Corroboree | light tan, dark tan blotches. |
| Ed Both | salmon rose, top petals blotched chestnut purple. |
| El Toro | cardinal red with bronze sheen. |
| Fiesta | white flushed pink. |
| Firebird | striking copper rose, continuous blooms. Dusty red, all petals blotched and feathered black |
| Fireglow | intense fire red. |
| Flamenco | rose madder, crimson blotches on top petals. |
| Funny Girl | top petals maroon, lower petals deep rose. |
| Garnet Wings | peony purple, small dark blotch on each petal. Deep rich purple with small darker blotches on each petal. Paler throat with wavy petals |
| Gemini | deep flesh pink, shading to white throat. |
| Gentle Georgia | delicate peach pink, self colour. Palest peach pink self. Very pale apricot, wavy. |
| Georgia Gold | bright golden orange, dark blotches on top petals. |
| Glitter Top | rose pink. |
| Gold Lace | golden orange, apricot reverse to petals. |
| Goldie | rich golden salmon, white eye. |
| Good Omen | cyclamen/purple, top petals black. |
| Grand Prix | white with red blotches. |
| Humourist | chestnut red, narrow pink edge, lower petals pale pink. Upper petals chestnut red, with narrow pink edges. Lower petals pale pink overlaid with salmon. |
| Isadora | deep orchid pink, feathering in throat. Deep orchid pink, white throat with faint red feathers |
| Joan Morf | basically white, all petals shaded rose pink. Basically white, all petals shaded rose pink. |
| Lyris | rose bengal, chestnut blotches top petals. |
| Mahogany Rose | mahogany self, large. |
Maja  | bottom petals crimson rose, top petals almost black. Bottom petals crimson rose, top petals almost black, narrowly edged deep pink. Round flowers. |
| Margot | white, pale pink throat. |
| Matador | rich dark red, blotches all petals. |
| Mattara | pink with maroon blotches. Strawberry pink with maroon blotches, ruffled petals. |
| Moomba | ruffled pink, darker pink edges. Ruffled pink, darker pink edges. |
| Moorpark | warm apricot, blood red feathering. |
| Morf's Summer Storm | striking reddish black. Striking two-toned purple. Compact growth. |
| Mrs. G. Morf | persian rose, overlaid magenta, white throat. |
| Mt. Dandenong | begonia rose. |
| Mt. Feathertop | glowing scarlet red, two dark blotches upper petals. |
| Mt. Kosciusko | pure white, faint magenta feathering. |
| Mt. Macedon | porcelain white, two small blotches. |
| Music Man | luniinous orange, small crimson blotches top petals. |
| Norah Kirby | lilac rose with light feathering magenta. |
| Opera House | huge ruffled two tone magenta on rose pink. |
| Persimmon | (Aus) deep salmon orange, chestnut blotches. |
| Picador | purplish wine, small chestnut blotches on top petals. |
| Pinochio | salmon pink shading to pale throat. |
| Provocative | basically magenta purple. Deep purple blotched black in all petals, vigorous |
| Purple Galore | deep purple. marbled purples. |
| Rembrandt | rich pansy purple, all petals evenly edged pale lavender. Rich pansy purple, all petals evenly edged pale lilac, upper petals deeper purple. Pansy purple, lavender edge |
| Rhodo | pure white, light feathering rose-pink. Pure white, lightly feathered rose pink, very large overlapping petals. Pure white, rose feather top. |
| Rosemary | rose pink. |
| Royal Escort | pale pink, orange blotches. |
| Ruby Red | blood red, black blotches on top petals. |
| Salmon Splendour | warm salmon with rust blotches. |
| Silver Sheen | orchid pink, silver overtone, very ruffled. |
| Snowcap | green buds opening to pure white. |
| Sunset | pale salmon, brown blotches. Single. Light salmon with deeper salmon center. |
| Tarantella | pale orchid piiik, top petals blotched magenta. |
| Taurus | phlox pink, largeblooms. |
| Topflight | deep salmon. |
| Violet Dream | magenta-rose, small blotch of purple on top petals. |
| Virginia | clear white, delicately ruffled. |
| Whisper | delicate orchid pink, self colour. Delicate orchid pink self coloured. |
| Wine Festival | light wine, red-black blotches all petals. |
| Zorro | maroon black, bushy. |