A field experiment was conducted for six months covering rainy, autumn and spring seasons, to investigate the influence of time of harvesting on yield and quality of the oil of rose-scented geranium (Pelargonium sp.) cv. Bourbon, in the semi-arid tropical climate of south India. A diurnal fluctuation in oil yield was observed with a maximum at 12:00 noon (0.27%) and a minimum at 12:00 midnight (0.18%). The oil composition assessed by linalool (7.1–8.4%), isomenthone (7.0–8.1%), citronellol (22.2–23.3%), geraniol (20.6–25.2%), citronellyl formate (4.9–5.5%), geranyl formate (3.8–4.7%) and 10-epi-γ-eudesmol (5.0–7.4%) was not significantly affected by time of harvesting.