I believe that is exactly true; hybridizing removes some of the 'heirloom' quality when the plant is grown for something other than bloom endurance and variety of climate.
I seasonally worked in a commercial greenhouse where all types of geraniums were grown from seed, cuttings, and some infrequent grafting.
Geraniums grown from seed were slower to start blooming, but lasted later into the cold season, and blooms lasted longer.
Geraniums from cuttings seem to flower more frequently, but the blooms seemed to 'shatter'(break) more easily; the number of blooms overwhelmed their fragility.
A complete 'table' of "mother plants" were kept growing, overwintered with just enough heat and full spectrum lights,
and kept just dry enough, and fertilized with no nitrogen so that they didn't bloom nor grow too large.
These 'mother plants' were the source for mid-winter cuttings, in time for early spring commercial sale to wholesalers.
The idea of homeowners having an unheated area of the basement, and storing inverted plants with dry roots is how our ancestors overwintered their geraniums.
You got it!
I’ve was in Ag/Hort. for over 20 years. Wish I could say I miss it, but I sure did ENJOY this past FIRST SPRING in 15 years not being tied to the Insane Asylum (Garden Center), LOL!
I’ve worked for The Seed Savers Exchange and Jung Garden Centers. Shameless Plug:
http://www.seedsavers.org
http://www.jungseed.com