A BLOOM WITH DEPTH
Geraniums have resilience
When I say geranium, you may see visions of window boxes with brilliant red ivy geraniums tumbling over the sides in quaint European towns.
Or you may see the so-called zonal geraniums surrounding the proverbial dracaena “spike” in a traditional summer planter.
But these are more properly called pelargoniums and the name geranium is the correct botanical name for the perennial commonly known since the 16th century as cranesbill.
These are so called because of their spent flowers, which resemble the pointy beaks of these probing shore birds.
Perennial geraniums are hard workers in any garden, and if you haven’t grown one yet, you should look for them on your next visit to the garden centre.
If you have a shady garden, perhaps under a dense tree canopy where nothing much will grow, then try covering the ground with big root geranium (Geranium macrorrhizum).
This species, whether the rich, deep-pink-blooming Bevan’s Variety, or the light-pink Ingwersen’s Variety, will quickly cover a wide expanse, creating a solid ground cover.
Besides being virtually impenetrable by weeds, it will tolerate dry shade and root easily from surface-running rhizomes. The leaves of big root geraniums are essentially evergreen, meaning they don’t need cutting back in the fall or spring, and have a distinct citrusy fragrance. They begin to flower in June and span about 60 centimetres in breadth with half that in height.
Big root geranium will tolerate any soil and are deer- and rabbitresistant.
If your garden is in full sun or part shade, try other geraniums.
Geranium Cantabrigians Biokovo, a naturally occurring hybrid found in the mountains of Croatia, was voted perennial plant of the year in 2015 by the Perennial Plant Association. The 15-centimetre-tall and 30-cmwide plant has pink buds that open into dainty white flowers with pink stamens and subtle pink veining.
It blooms heavily in late spring to early summer, and spreads with rhizomatous roots like its shade-loving relative. It’s also essentially evergreen, and the leaves turn an outstanding red and orange in the fall.
A low-growing (about 20 cm) and tidy mound (about 45-60 cm wide) characterizes the bloody cranesbills, that is, the Geranium sanguineum species.
Perhaps the most well known of these are Max Frei and New Hampshire Purple; neither is fussy about soil or levels of partial to full sun, having finely textured dainty foliage and flowering from late spring often through to midsummer.
The moody Geranium phaeum Samobar, with maroon flowers and a pronounced dark pattern on the leaves, is a good choice for a spot with afternoon shade, but don’t forget to deadhead the flowers, as new plants will pop up everywhere if you don’t.
If you’re crazy for summerlong blue flowers and don’t mind habit, buy Geranium Rozanne (Perennial Plant Association’s 2008 plant of the year), which languorously and vexingly reaches in all directions.
Or better still, be savvy and look for the more well-behaved, compact form called Azure Rush.