Geraniums – A Comparison

There are so many lovely Geraniums that making a choice can be quite a task. I’ve put all the cranesbills we grow on one page so that you can easily compare them side by side. I have arranged them by colour, and within this by increasing size. This is a permanent post, so there may be varieties here that come and go from availability- if you see a variety that shows up as out of stock, just give us a ring and we can tell you if it is in production.

Use this button to see geraniums growing in association with other plants

Reds

  • Geranium phaeum var. phaeum ‘Samobor’. MOURNING WIDOW. Particularly striking leaf markings distinguish this useful ground covering geranium. Each leaf is relatively large for the type and zoned with chocolate brown, rather in the way of a pelargonium. Dark redddy-maroon flowers add to the effect and are brilliant with the light coming through them. Overall the plants have a compact, tight appearance. Succeeds even in deep, dry shade. 80cm. Introduced by Washfield Nursery
  • Geranium phaeum 'Samobor' leaves

    Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’ leaves

Geranium phaeum 'Samobor'

Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’

Strong Pinks

  • Geranium subcaulescens. (Geranium cinereum subsp. subcaulescens var. subcaulescens) This is a small geranium, but it can’t half pack a punch. With the most vivid deep magenta, dark-eyed flowers, produced throughout the summer months on ever barnching stems it is a force to be reckoned with. Forms a neat compact mound of foliage. Full sun in a well drained position at the front of aborder or on a rockery. 15cm. This plant was previously placed under Geranium cinereum, a species which, along with its many varieties, has recently been extensively reclassified creating many new species from old subspecies.
Geranium subcaulescens

Geranium subcaulescens

  • Geranium sanguineum ‘Max Frei’ (bloody cranebill). A cheerful little cranesbill producing low soft hummocks of tight foliage covered in summer in rich magenta blooms. The foliage is tidy and a good deep green and overall the plant maintains a neat appearance. Foliage colours vivid red in autumn. 15cm tall by 60cm wide A variety produced in Germany. May to September
Geranium sanguineum 'Max Frei'

Geranium sanguineum ‘Max Frei’

  • Geranium sanguineum ‘Elke’ is a lovely little quite compact form of the bloody cranesbill. The flowers are a really vibrant, some say fluorescent, pink with a much paler edge to each petal. The centre of each flower is also near white with each petal rayed with magenta lines. Happy in full sun, but the flowers do pale out more the more sun it receives.

Geranium sanguineum 'Elke'

Geranium sanguineum ‘Elke’

  • Geranium x riversleanum ‘Russell Prichard’ (Geranium endressii x Geranium traversii). Mounds of grey-green hairy leaves emerge from a tight crown on spreading and branching flowering stems eventually forming a clump 90cm across. The flowers a strong reddish pink to light magenta and are pproduced continuously from May right through to the first frosts in September. This is the original clonal cultivar fo the riversleanum type, raised at Prichard’s Nursery at Riverslea, Hampshire. It benefits from regular division. Best in full sun
Geranium x riversleanum 'Russel Prichard'

Geranium x riversleanum ‘Russel Prichard’

  • Geranium sanguineum – bloody cranesbill. . A cheerful little cranesbill producing wide soft hummocks of foliage covered in summer in deep magenta blooms. Spreading by underground rhizomes, sending up thin leafy stems to form low mats. Trim back to the ground as the flowering fades to regenerate the clumps freshness. Foliage colours vivid red in autumn. 30cm tall by 60cm wide. May to August. British Native.
Geranium sanguineum

Geranium sanguineum

  • Don’t be confused by the name of this Geranium, it is named after a house, not one of it’s characteristics. The flowers are some of the darkest of the group, being a rich pinky purple at the centre fading out towards pink at the edge with a white edge. Strong bee lines complete the design. Not quite as striking as Blueberry Ice, but still very nice indeed. Good for growing in dry shady situations where many plants would struggle.

Geranium nodosum ‘Whiteleaf’

Geranium nodosum ‘Whiteleaf’

  • Geranium ‘Tiny Monster’. (Geranium psilostemon x  Geranium ‘Ankum’s Pride’)  This cultivar has the benefit of a growth habit and leaf like a G.sanguineum, but with flowers on branching flower stems. It is long flowering with large flowers for its size, each Purplish red with darker veins. Leaves redden well in the Autumn.
Geranium 'Tiny Monster'

Geranium ‘Tiny Monster’

  • Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Czakor’. An excellent strong pink flowered form of this ever-popular Geranium. Soft apple-green highly scented foliage makes a dense weed smothering clump which succeeds in either sun or dry shade. Some leaves are retained all winter following quite vivid red Autumn colour. Easy and reliable. Originally from mountainous areas of Southern Europe.

Geranium macrorrhizum 'Czakor'

Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Czakor’

  • Geranium ‘Sirak’ (Geranium gracile x Geranium ibericum). An outstanding new hybrid that produces masses of large flat bright pink flowers continuously for several months through the summer. Each flower is a shiny texture, coloured towards the bluer end of deep sugar pink with darker pink veining.  The leaves are a pale green, resembling most the Geranium ibericum parent as does the plants general habit. A plant that will earn its keep in any planting scheme. 90cm. Bred by Alan Bremner on Orkney.
Geranium 'Sirak'

Geranium ‘Sirak’

  • Geranium ‘Elworthy Eyecatcher’ has really vibrant 4cm wide flowers in a rich magenta pink with a deeper, almost purple venation and a gorgeous boss of blue-black stamens. The flowers are carried over really long season and look lovely with the black foliage of Ophiopogon which picks up the blackness of the eyes. The foliage in Spring is startlingly pale lemon with whiter edges and ages to a matt green with a hint of the darker spots typical of Geranium x oxonianum. Raised at Elworthy Cottage by Jenny Spiller which is really all the recommendation you need.

Geranium 'Elworthy Eyecatcher'

Geranium ‘Elworthy Eyecatcher’

  • An Alan Bremner hybrid of the same parentage as the better known ‘Anne Folkard’, namely G.procurrens x G.psilostemon. Geranium ‘Anne Thompson’ is a more compact form. It spreads to 90cm as it meanders its way through the foliage of its neighbours, reaching about 50cm in height. Its young leaves are golden tinged but less brash than those of ‘Anne Folkard’ and is perhaps easier to place in the garden as its tones are subtler. In flower it is nearly identical with relatively large quite flat bright magenta pink, black-eyed flowers with stamens that begin salmon pink. The flowers of ‘Anne Thompson’ are possibly a little more lustrous. Coming as it does from the Orkney Islands it is well versed in Scottish Winters but does need reasonable drainage. It can be grown in sun or partial shade, the golden hue of the leaves becoming more intense in bright conditions.

Geranium 'Anne Thomson'

Geranium ‘Anne Thomson’

  • Geranium Patricia. (G. psilostemon x G. endressii). A really strong and startling new geranium that inherits the shocking 4cm cerise flowers from one parent and the strength and vigour from the other. A large and robust plant that will make a vivid statement throughout the summer. long season. 75cm. June to the first frosts. An Alan Bremner hybrid named in honour of Patricia Doughty.
Anemone 'Queen Charlotte' and Geranium Patricia

Anemone ‘Queen Charlotte’ and Geranium Patricia

  • Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’  (Geranium procurrens x Geranium psilostemon) A brilliant sterile hybrid raised by Reverand Oliver Folkard in Lincolnshire in 1973. Although the crown of this plant is very compact, it sends out long straggling branching stems that mound up to a substantial 2m across. The leaves are bright yellow when young and the perfect foil or a dreadful clash (dependant on your opinion) with the bright magenta, dark eyed flowers. Flowers from June till the first frosts. Stem cuttings will often root, but seldom grow away.
Geranium 'Ann Folkard'

Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’

  • (Geranium armenum). Unashamedly bold and brash with startling, vibrant deep cerise flowers with a prominent black eye and veins. 1.2m
    Large clumps up to 120cm high. For sun to light shade. June-July. Forms a dense weed smothering clump of handsome foliage. A native of North-Eastern Turkey. Brilliant red Autumn colour. The shoots in spring emerge from prominent red buds.

Geranium psilostemon

Geranium psilostemon

Softer Pinks

  • Geranium sanguineum var. striatum (lancastriense) – bloody cranesbill. Large flowers in palest sugar pink enhanced with red veins and red style and often complimented by red fading leaves. The habit is low and spreading with a fairly open structure. Has a particularly long flowering season. This is a naturally occurring British native variety discovered on Walney Island in Lancashire. 30cm tall by 60cm wide
Geranium sanguineum var. striatum

Geranium sanguineum var. striatum

  • Geranium x cantabrigense ‘Hanne’. The flowers of this new Danish cultivar are a pearly blueish pink with a distinct white border. The effect is enhanced by a darker pink eye and stamens and the deep colour of the calyces which persist after the flowers fade. Intensely fragrant mats of low evergreen foliage. G. x cantabrigiense is a sterile hybrid raised first at Cambridge university Botanic Garden in 1974, but also occurring in the wild. Grows only about 20cm tall, but will spread to form a dense evergreen mat. Flowers May to July.
Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Hanne'

Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Hanne’

  • Westray’ is a good strong form of this excellent ground covering Geranium. As with all its type it is near evergreen with dense fragrant foliage which is excellent for carpeting in dry sunny positions.

Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Westray'

Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Westray’

  • Geranium sanguineum ‘Ankum’s Pride’ (bloody cranesbill) .A delightful short spreading geranium ideal for the front of border or scuttling about beneath shrubs and roses. The flowers are well rounded, of a glowing sugary pink and large for the species. Each axil produces a single flower so as the growth goes on so does the flowering. One of the lower growing Geranium sanguineum cultivars. 15cm.  May-August
Geranium 'Ankum's Pride'

Geranium ‘Ankum’s Pride’

  • Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Karmina’. (Geranium dalmaticum x Geranium macrorrhizum) A vigorous cultivar with mid pink flowers. Very similar to Geranium x cantabrigiense Cambridge. Forms a lovely low mat of highly fragrant shiny foliage on top of which it carries a long succession of flat pink blooms. Performs well in dry sites. G. x cantabrigiense is a sterile hybrid, the original clone being raised first at Cambridge university Botanic Garden in 1974. Grows only about 20cm tall, but will spread to form a dense evergreen mat. Flowers May to July.
Geranium cantabrigiense 'Karmina'

Geranium cantabrigiense ‘Karmina’

  • Geranium ‘Joy’. .( G.traversii var elegans x G.lambertii) A joy all year with almost evergreen mounds of soft marbled leaves and cupped flowers that are a gentle pink, enlivened with red veins and a dark eye. Has an exceptionally long season from Spring through to Autumn. 45cm spread. An Alan Bremner hybrid named in honour of Joy Jones.
Geranium 'Joy'

Geranium ‘Joy’

  • From a dense crown come innumerable trailing, branching stems that mound and scramble to form a close mat of silvery grey-green foliage. All summer until the frosts Geranium ‘Mavis Simpson’ produces clear, pale sugar pink flowers with fine purple lines. Lovely to edge a bed or scramble around the base of shrubs. Long flowering period from May to the frosts in September. Originaly occurred at Kew Gardens. Best in full sun.

Geranium 'Mavis Simpson

Geranium ‘Mavis Simpson

  • This is a Geranium from South Africa. It is not noramlly considered hardy, but this particular strain came from a high mountain collection and has proved reliable with us for many many years. It has an unusual growth habit, producing numerous lax stems from a central crown that keep extending in length each year unless cut back. The leaves are maple-like and densly hairy. giving it an attractive silvery green appearance, worthy of a place on foliage alone. The flowers, which are better in hotter, sunnier locations, are a blueish sugary pink.

  • Geranium pulchrum

    Geranium pulchrum

Geranium pulchrum

Geranium pulchrum

  • This is a fantastic Geranium to grow in dry sites where other plants might struggle. Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Ingwersen’s Variety’ produces generous mounds of soft, hairy, highly fragrant pale green leaves spreading by means of runners. the flowers are blush pink, produced in small clusters. Each one has a red eye and long dangling spider-legs stamens with red anthers. To finish the effect the calyx is red also. 2ft tall. Easily grown and very reliable. In the stems and general demeanour of Geraniumm macrorrhizum you can see a kinship with their cousins the Pelargoniums.

Geranium macrorrhizum 'Ingwersen's Variety'

Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Ingwersen’s Variety’

  • Geranium nodosum ‘Hexham Feathers’ has mauvey-pink, typical Geranium nodosum flowers but with an almost ragged edge formed by lobes of differing lengths. Strong purple bee-lines and a paler eye finish the effect. Nice green foliage and good in dry shade.

Geranium nodosum 'Hexham Feathers'

Geranium nodosum ‘Hexham Feathers’

  • Geranium nodosum ‘Hexham Lace’ has pinky-mauve flowers with purple rays. Each petal is heavily notched into 3 lobes giving it the effect of a scalloped collar. Nice green leaves and very good for naturalising in dry shade.

Geranium nodosum 'Hexham Lace'

Geranium nodosum ‘Hexham Lace’

  • Geranium ‘Dusky Rose’ A newly bred variety which forms a low tight spreading mound of gorgeous chocolate-burgundy foliage. From May to September the plant will be studded with soft baby-pink flowers. 15cm high and 30cm spread. This is a sister plant to Geranium ‘Bertie Crug’ with a slightly lighter baby-pink flowers and similar to Geranium Dusky Crug but with much better leaf.
Geranium 'Dusky Rose'

Geranium ‘Dusky Rose’

  • Geranium ‘Dreamland’. Sumptuous greyish foliage with a sagey quality is topped with large silvery pink flowers of charming gradated colour, each veined cerise. Bred as a ground covering variety by Alan Bremner in the Orkney Isles and selected back in 1998. May to September. 40cm high by a greater spread. A prolific and long season flowerer and also very hardy.
Geranium 'Dreamland'

Geranium ‘Dreamland’

  • The flowers of Geranium ‘Kashmir Pink’ are particularly nicely shaped with petals in a clear rosy baby-pink. Each has translucent veins and paler, almost green eye. Combined with the very fine foliage, this is a Geranium of very fine overall effect.

Geranium clarkei 'Kashmir Pink'

Geranium clarkei ‘Kashmir Pink’

  • Geranium ‘Sweet Heidy’ is another recent introduction by Marco van Noort, this time good enough to have been named after his wife. The flowers are of a good size (4cm +) opening relatively flat with widely spaced petals showing the green calyx behind. There is a bold white central disc and prominent dark bee lines. The colour varys considerably, from a lavender blue at the petal edge to a pinkier tone further in. dependent on conditions the balance of the pink and blue can vary to either extreme. Whilst a little slow to get establish, eventually plants will be as large as ‘Rozanne’, a good 90cm across. Sun to part shade.

Geranium ‘Sweet Heidy’

Geranium ‘Sweet Heidy’

  • Geranium sanguineum ‘Glenluce’ (bloody cranesbill) A Large flowered variety with flowers in a distinctive pale rose-pink. The foliage has a certain indefinable quality that makes it look softer than other cultivars. Altogether a cheerful little cranesbill producing wide soft hummocks of foliage covered in summer in clear, pale pink blooms. Spreads by underground rhizomes. Foliage colours vivid red in autumn. May-August. 30cm tall by 60cm wide Discovered at Glenluce, Scotland by AT Johnson in 1937.

Geranium sanguineum 'Glenluce'

  • Geranium macrostylum is another of the Summer dormant group of Geraniums which produces leaves in Late Autumn and grows all through Winter and Spring until the Summer droughts force it to retreat below ground. The finely cut foliage spreads well into quite large mats if grown in the sunny well-drained soil it prefers. Flowers are a delicate pale pink. Similar in appearance and its tuberous nature to Geranium tuberosum. From southern Europe across to Turkey.

  • Geranium psilostemon ‘Bressingham Flair’ is an excellent variety and has all the good qualities as the species, just with the brightness turned down a notch. It is a little smaller, probably about two-thirds the size as the species with flowers that are a rich mid pink rather than the startling magenta usually found. It still has the black eye and charm in abundance.

Geranium psilostemon 'Bressingham Flair'

Geranium psilostemon ‘Bressingham Flair’

  • Geranium ‘Mayflower’ x Geranium endressii combining the lovely form of the former and the long flowering season of the latter. Geranium ‘Melinda’ produces plentiful 2-3cm  rose pink flowers, veined in a darker shade which are carried in large heads . It grows 60cm high in compact clumps with handsomely divided foliage. Grow in a soil that doesn’t get too dry, preferably in a little light shade.

Geranium 'Melinda'

Geranium ‘Melinda’

  • A dusky pink spring flowering Geranium. Typical of its parents, G.phaeum and G.reflexum, it has sprays of long-nosed, slightly reflexed petaled flowers with a white eye and a ring of smokey blue eye-liner. Generous clumps of large palmate and lobed leaves are handsomely marked with strong maroon blotches and stand well in shade, even if dry. Even better is the lovely golden hue the leaves take on in early Spring before greening up later. Really brightens up a shady corner. Originated in the French nursery of its namesake. 45cm tall, spreading indefinitely.

Geranium x monacense ‘Claudine Dupont’

Geranium x monacense ‘Claudine Dupont’

  • Hailed as a unique colour within the phaeums, this dark, dusky-pink Geranium is, as its name suggests, the colour of Rose Madder. Sprays of reflexed petalled flowers with a protruding style and stigma are produced from April intermittently throughout the Summer. Good clumps of palish green leaves with slight spots between the lobes. Part to deep shade. 70cm

Geranium phaeum ‘Rose Madder’

Geranium phaeum ‘Rose Madder’

  • Geranium phaeum ‘Mottisfont Rose’ adds a completely different colour into the Geranium phaeum family. The flowers are quite flat and are shaded with Rose Madder. Not at all sombre like many cultivars but a lovely pastel.

Geranium phaeum 'Mottisfont Rose'

Geranium phaeum ‘Mottisfont Rose’

  • Geranium x monacense variegated is a variegated form of this robust geranium that so excels at ground cover in difficult dry situations. The variegation takes the form of variable bright white splashing that covers at least 50% of the foliage. It looks particularly effective in Autumn as senescent yellow tones add into the mix creating a lovely tapestry of colours.

Geranium reflexum variegated

Geranium reflexum variegated

  • Geranium reflexum. An excellent plant for ground cover in troublesome dry places. The flowers, held on tall stems above the foliage have swept back petals coloured pale pink with a blue band at the point of reflex. 80cm. Leave susually brown blotched. Excellent groundcover for light shade where it will carpet with an impenetrable ever spreading mat of pale green leaves (about 60-90 cm in 10 years). From southern Europe.
  • Geranium reflexum. An excellent plant for ground cover in troublesome dry places. The flowers, held on tall stems above the foliage have swept back petals coloured pale pink with a blue band at the point of reflex. 80cm. Leave susually brown blotched. Excellent groundcover for light shade where it will carpet with an impenetrable ever spreading mat of pale green leaves (about 60-90 cm in 10 years). From southern Europe.
Geranium reflexum

Geranium monacense var. anglicum

  • Geranium maculatum ‘Espresso’. Impressive leaves which are deeply fingered and coloured brown. Flowers are produced early and are pale pink. The whole plant is a little smaller than ‘Elizabeth Ann’. geranium maculatum is a variable moisture loving species; the best of the North American species. Flowers appear April to June (and often again in Autumn) with clusters of upward facing flowers well above the deeply cut leaves. Best in damp shade
Geranium maculatum 'Espresso'
  • Geranium maculatum ‘Beth Chatto’ is distinguished by the most lovely clear, pale sugar pink flowers that it shows off to great effect in outward facing clusters above the pale green foliage. Geranium maculatum is a variable moisture loving species; the best of the North American species. Flowers appear April to June (and often again in Autumn) with clusters of upward facing flowers well above the deeply cut leaves. Best in damp shade

Geranium maculatum 'Beth Chatto'

Geranium maculatum ‘Beth Chatto’

  • Geranium x oxonianum ‘Dawn Time’ was selected out of batch of Geranium ‘Walter’s Gift’ seedlings in 1998. Very pale, silvery-pink flowers with a network of dark magenta veins are produced over a very long season, Spring through Summer. 45cm x 60cm. Forms excellent ground-cover with green leaves, which are a fersh limey green when young, carrying strong reddy-brown blotches.

Geranium x oxonianum 'Dawn Time'

Geranium x oxonianum ‘Dawn Time’

  • Geranium x oxonianum ‘Spring Fling’ is a sweetie shop Geranium leaves, they emerge creamy green and fade to a nice cream with an irregular central splash of green painted with bubble-gum pink dots. It sounds a bit garish but as a Spring foliage plant it is eye-catching and pleasantly decadent.

Geranium x oxonianum 'Spring Fling'

Geranium x oxonianum ‘Spring Fling’

Mauves, Purples and Lilacs

  • Geranium tuberosum. This cranesbill is a spring specialist, running underground with small tubers and sending up delicate mats of foliage topped with veined lilac blue flowers in Spring. The foliage disappears by summer, rather in the manner of a spring bulb. Compare with similar but larger G.libani. Use it at the front of a border where larger plants can flop over the bare soil later in the year or in an area that becomes dry in summer. May 30cm. Native of the Mediterranean and  East to Iran.

Geranium-tuberosum

  • Geranium libani  (Geranium libanoticum), Like the smaller G.tuberosum, this cranesbill acts like some bulbs, being dormant through the hottest months of the year. The dark shining leaves appear in Autumn and persist throughout winter. In the Spring it then sends up its shoots well above the leaves, topped with large (4cm) veined lilac blue flowers. It then retreats below ground by mid summer. Pretty and well worth a warm spot. From Lebanon. 30cm
Geranium libani

Geranium libani

  • Widely spaced, spoon-shaped petals are mauvey pink with a good tracery of black-magenta veins that coalesce to give a strong purple-black eye, topped with a black boss. The apple-green star of sepals peep through the gaps and adding an extra kick. Like G. ‘Ann Folkard’, Geranium ‘Salome’ is a scrambler, sending searching stems through the framework of its neighbours. Tolerates a little shade and has a very long flowering season.

Geranium 'Salome'

Geranium ‘Salome’

  • (syn. Geranium ‘Verguld Saffier’) Geranium Blue Sunrise is a cross between ‘Ann Folkard’ and wallichianum ‘Buxton’s variety’, inheriting characteristics of both. It has the yellow leaves of the former, longer lasting than the parent, with flowers in a pinky-blue produced all throughout the summer. Its AGM says it is undoubtedly a good cultivar, but anyone who knows me, knows my thoughts on plants that pair yellow leaves and pink flowers so I’ll shut up now. It has a low growing, sprawling habit, making it ideal for the front of the border. It is a little smaller than ‘Ann Folkard’. It is reliable, but likes some shade to do its best. Originally found as a seedling in Hans Kramer’s de Hessenhof nursery in about. 1994.

  • Geranium himalayense ‘Plenum’. (‘Birch Double’). Only a foot high, but a gem of a plant. Pale green cut foliage in a spreading mat from which flop out a mass of delightful informal double flowers, each like a little miniature rose. Flowers are lilac purple, an intermingled mix of fading pinks and violets. Excellent autumn colour
Geranium himalayense 'Plenum'

Geranium himalayense ‘Plenum’

  • Something new and quite remarkable in the Geranium world, especially amongst the nodosum types. Geranium nodosum ‘Blueberry Ice’ has 1 inch wide rich purple petals, each with a distinct pale lilac edge, are overlaid with a shimmering indigo lustre and enhanced with 3 strong magenta pink veins. The orange style and lilac anthers complete the effect. Typical Geranium nodosum foliage (colouring well in Autumn) and very long flowering. Tolerant of shade, including very dry shade. We’ve lost count of how many times we have told people ‘No, you can’t buy my stock plant !’

Geranium nodosum 'Blueberry Ice'

Geranium nodosum ‘Blueberry Ice’

  • The flowers of Geranium nodosum ‘Hexham Big Eyes’ are well sized at 4cm and have clearly spaced petals. The colour can vary from a soft lavender to a lavender pink dependent on light and temperature. They flower pales to the centre and each petal has 3 really strong burgundy lines. A central dark pink starry style completes the picture. The nodosums are popular for their tolerance of dry shade where they will produce flowers throughout the Summer and right into Autumn. In Autumn the foliage colours most delightfully, starting with a bright scarlet edge, the leaves can turn completely coloured in time.

Geranium nodosum 'Hexham Big Eyes'

Geranium nodosum ‘Hexham Big Eyes’

  • Geranium Summer Skies (=’Gernic’) (Geranium pratense x Geranium himalayense ‘Plenum’ possibly). One of those varieties that packs a real punch and also bears the closest inspection. When in flower this geranium carries a mass of miniature rosebud flowers, each one a double, opening cream with a green eye and developing into the lovliest lavender-pink. A quite distinctive variety with a short bushy habit. resembles most a shorter double version of Geranium pratense.
Geranium 'Summer Skies'

Geranium ‘Summer Skies’

  • (Geranium albiflorum x Geranium sylvaticum) I was drawn to Geranium ‘Prelude’ as it was so different to its cousins. It has small lustrous mauve flowers, 1cm wide with petals quite widely spaced. It has a lovely little curly puce pink style and flushes of magenta bee-lines. It really comes into its own when established and flowering en masse when the effect is quite charming. 45-90cm. An Alan Bremner cross.

Geranium 'Prelude'

Geranium ‘Prelude’

  • Geranium phaeum ‘Lily Lovell’. A striking form of this cranesbill raised at Mayford, Surrey by the Geranium expert Trevor Bath and named in memory of his mother. It is distinguished by its larger flowers of a rich dark purple with pale centres and its distinctly pale foliage. Overall the plant is large and open in appaerance for a G. phaeum type. Plants form dense clumps of pale foliage which succeed even in deep, dry shade. 80cm.
Geranium phaeum 'Lily Lovell'

Geranium phaeum ‘Lily Lovell’

  • Geranium x magnificum. (Geranium ibericum subsp. Ibericum x Geranium platypetalum) Flowers May and into June. A vigorous sterile variety that sets no seed. Large bluish purple flowers over hairy leaves that take on good Autumn tints. Has a relatively short flowering period, but it is magnificent when in flower. Every May each clump becomes absolutely covered with a profusion of large rich violet flowers, so much so that the plant becomes a ball of solid colour. Each flower is a rich violet, intricately veined in dark purple. Best grown in full sun. 2ft high by 3ft wide
Geranium x magnificum

Geranium x magnificum

  • Geranium malviflorum (Geranium atlanticum) is one of a group of Geraniums that pack up for a Summer dormancy, preferring to grow throughout the Winter months. Flowers are a really rich intense purple with heart shaped-petals held slightly apart from each other. Needs sun and good drainage to perform at its best. from Southern spain to Morocco and Algeria.

Geranium malviflorum (Geranium atlanticum)

Geranium malviflorum (Geranium atlanticum)

  • Geranium pratense Victor Reiter Junior Strain. Stunning new cultivar with leaves of a striking purple-black above which deep purple saucer shaped blooms are proudly displayed. Place in a prominent position where the unusual many fingered leaves will always provoce comment. Nnot as high as some of the meadow cranesbills. Leaves become greener as the year progresses or if they are in too much shade. Best in sun. to 60cm. There was a profusion of cultivars produced following the original californian introduction of G.’Vicor Reiter’ which has led to some muddling and confusion in the names of the purple leaved strains, some of which are seed raised, and some micropropagated. This is one of the seed raised strains.
  • Geranium pratense 'Victor Reiter Strain' leaves

    Geranium pratense ‘Victor Reiter Strain’ leaves

Geranium pratense 'Victor Reiter Strain'

Geranium pratense ‘Victor Reiter Strain’

  • Geranium himalayense ‘Gravetye’. Large saucer-shaped blooms in a strong violet-blue are held well above the attractive foliage. ‘Gravetye’, selected from the garden of William Robinson, has flowers with a particularly pronounced central purplish flush on a more compact plant than the species. The species is a Himalayan plant that forms dense clumps of well cut foliage. Flowers April to July. Excellent red Autumn colour.
Geranium himalayense 'Gravetye'

Geranium himalayense ‘Gravetye’

  • Geranium ‘Nimbus’ (Geranium collinum x Geranium clarkei ‘Kashmir Purple’). Geranium ‘Nimbus’ is a fine new cultivar which is already earning a good reputation. Flowers are freely produced, bluish purple with a small pale eye. Petals are relatively narrow leaving a gap between each that gives the flower a starry appearance. The foliage, which emerges ochre tinted, is finely cut and pale apple green. Large and spreading.  May to July. Occurred in Cambridge University Botanic Garden in 1978.
Geranium 'Nimbus'

Geranium ‘Nimbus’

  • Geranium phaeum ‘Raven’. MOURNING WIDOW. A useful ground cover plant with striking dark purple flowers held high above dense clumps of pale foliage. Raven has unspotted leaves and purple-brown flowers and is relatively short growing at just 40cm.

Geranium phaeum 'Raven'

Geranium phaeum ‘Raven’

  • Geranium phaeum ‘Taff’s Jester’ has flowers that are only slightly back-swept and are coloured a really rich purple-burgundy. Good strong variegation to the foliage

Geranium phaeum 'Taff's Jester'

Geranium phaeum ‘Taff’s Jester’

  • Geranium phaeum ‘Lavender Pinwheel’ is one of those plants whose flowers warrant the closest of inspection as they posses the sort of intricate beauty that can easily get overlooked amongst some of their more brash cousins but which nevertheless is as exquisite as they come. Each flower is a translucent lavender-white shaded to the edges and picked out lavender in the veins. Where the petals overlap the colour is stronger and from the white eye protrude a green style and pink anthers. Typical green G.phaeum foliage with small but distinct chocolate spots.

Geranium phaeum 'Lavender Pinwheel'

Geranium phaeum ‘Lavender Pinwheel’

  • The leaves of Geranium phaeum ‘Conny Broe’ are distinguished in that all of the veins are yellow giving the leaf a netted appearance. The colour fades as the leaf ages leaving them somewhat mottled. The flowers have swept back petals. With the rich purple colouring and white eye, the appearance is somewhat of a rook’s beak. Good in dry shade.

Geranium phaeum 'Conny Broe'

Geranium phaeum ‘Conny Broe’

  • Golden Spring foliage becomes suffused with green and is marbled with a maroon, roughly heart-shaped ring at the depths of the lobes. The flowers are the deepest, richest royal purple. Like all the phaeums it positively thrives in dry shade, though the yellow tones of the leave may be less strident.

  • Geranium phaeum 'Springtime'

    Geranium phaeum ‘Springtime’

Geranium phaeum 'Springtime'

  • Geranium phaeum ‘Lisa’ has handsome foliage especially in Spring and Autumn when the hearts of the leaves are cool cream, gradually mottling out towards the edge. The deeply incised leaves are further decorated by strong black spots at the deepest points of the lobes. 50cm. Flowers are silvery purple, highly reflexed, with pink tipped anthers. They are produced over a long period from April to July. Easy and rewarding

Geranium phaeum 'Lisa'

Geranium phaeum ‘Lisa’

  • Geranium sylvaticum ‘Mayflower’ – (wood cranesbill). Glossy medium green leaves form a good clump to 1ft tall, well above which are held in May the branched heads of white centered rich violet- blue flowers. Bluer than Geranium sylvaticum ‘Birch’s Lilac’. The crown is a  knobbly mat of rhizomes which sprout in spring stiff upright stems of fresh pale green leaves. May-June. Best in partial shade where it is very useful. May-June
Geranium sylvaticum 'Mayflower'

Geranium sylvaticum ‘Mayflower’

  • Geranium sylvaticum ‘Coquetedale Lilac’ is a new variety from Cyril Foster with particularly well sized flowers in a pleasing lavender shade.

Geranium sylvaticum 'Coquetedale Lilac'

Geranium sylvaticum ‘Coquetedale Lilac’

  • The original large flowered form of Geranium phaeum var. lividum was collected on an Alpine Garden Society tour of the dolomites by Bill Baker. Subsequently it was propagated by Axletree Nursery and an attractive pale lilac seedling was selected and named after Bill’s wife Joan. Geranium phaeum var. lividum ‘Joan Baker’ is a robust geranium and grows strongly to 90cm, even in quite dry shade, making a very useful plant indeed.

Geranium phaeum var. lividum 'Joan Baker'

Geranium phaeum var. lividum ‘Joan Baker’

  • This is not a named form of the Mourning Widow, but it is a good one. It is the darkest form we grow, made all the more so by the dark stems on which the flowers are carried. The leaves are a plain green. What more can I say, if your looking for the widow all dressed in her widow’s weeds then this is the selection for. Excellent for dry difficult sites.

Geranium phaeum – dark form

Geranium phaeum – dark form

Blues

  • Geranium wallichianum ‘Buxton’s Variety’ (‘Buxton’s Blue’) is A delightful delicate scrambling geranium producing saucer-shaped 3cm clear blue flowers with large white eyes and dark anthers from July right through until the frosts. Lovely mottled foliage weaves its way on low growing stems so the flowers appear to pop up through all of its neighbours. Although largely ‘superceeded’ by geranium ‘Rozanne’ in teh general trade, this little geranium is still a treasure for sun or partial shade,in a moisture retentive soil that is not too dry. Often produces lovely red Autumn colour. height 30-60cm. Discovered in the garden of E.C.Buxton in Betwys-y-Coed about 1920. The original species is Himalayan,

Geranium wallichianum 'Buxton's Variety' ('Buxton's Blue')

Geranium wallichianum ‘Buxton’s Variety’ (‘Buxton’s Blue’)

  • Geranium ‘Azure Rush’. Very much like the award winning G.Rozanne from which this plant is a sport, differing in having shorter internodes and therefore being smaller  in its mounding. This difference may take up to 3 years to be obvious as the two cultivar grow pretty much the same the first year with Geranium ‘Rozanne’ mounding larger and larger over the next 3 years. The flowers are still a gorgeous 6cm wide, White centred azure blue (a slight shade lighter than Geranium ‘Rozanne’), fading lavender and produced in a continuous succession from May until the frosts. Geranium ‘Azure Rush’ starts into flower up to 3 weeks earlier than Geranium ‘Rozanne’. Foliage colours well in Autumn. Discovered by Jeddeloh in Germany. 30cm tall, spreading wider.
Geranium 'Azure Rush'

Geranium ‘Azure Rush’

  • Geranium ‘Havana Blues’ is one of the latest varieties bred by Marco van Noort, continuing on the success of the Geranium wallichianum based ‘Rozanne’. Said by him to have large flowers (5cm +) with strong dark veining and an unusual habit (for this type of Geranium) of producing greenish yellow leaves early on. Sun to part shade, 40cm high by 50 wide. The petals are separate when fully open, revealing a green five pointed star of green calyx. Flower has a pale, not white, central disc with prominent dark bee lines. Nice central boss of dark stamens with black pollen. The flower colour is basically a lavender blue, but can be very variable dependent on temperature, amount of sun and time of year. Cooler times produce bluer flowers, warmer times more pink.

Geranium ‘Havana Blues’

Geranium ‘Havana Blues’

  • Geranium ‘Rozanne’ (Geranium ‘Jolly Bee’) =’Gerwat’. (Geranium himalayense x Geranium wallichianum ‘Buxton’s Variety’). A new introduction with very large, well rounded flowers, each a rich blue with a white central eye and dark red veining. Sends out sprawling, branching stems from a tight crown which mound up to at least  1m across and 45cm high, Flowers start in June and can go on right until November, at their height covering the whole mound. If needed flowering can be refreshed by chopping the stems half back mid season. Good strong constitution and a long flowering season. Good Autumn colour. Most resembles a more robust version of its parent Geranium ‘Buxton’s Variety’Despite all its accolades, Geranium ‘Rozanne’ started life modestly as a chance find. Rozanne Waterer and her husband, Donald, spotted an unusual looking seedling in 1998 at the bottom of their garden in Kilve in Somerset. After it flowered the next year from June to November with large blue flowers they took it to Adrian Bloom who identified it as a new hybrid. It was named after Mrs Waterer and has since been named Plant of the Centenary at the Chelsea Flower Show 2013. It made its debut at Chelsea in 2000.
Geranium 'Rozanne' (Geranium 'Jolly Bee')

Geranium ‘Rozanne’ (Geranium ‘Jolly Bee’)

  • Geranium ‘Philippe Vapelle’ (Geranium platypetalum x  Geranium renardii) Felty grey-green leaves that have the texture of those of Geranium renardii form a neat evergreen mound. Nestled just above are flowers of a soft lilac-blue with prominent veining. The flowers are of a distinctive shape, the petals being wide spaced with blunt ended triangular outlined petals. Grows 40cm tall. June-July. A hybrid originally raised in Belgium by Ivan Louette.
Geranium Philip Vapelle'

Geranium Philip Vapelle’

  • Geranium himalayense ‘Irish Blue’. Large saucer blooms in a beguiling shade of sky blue with a large central purple stain produced over the top of a dense spreading mat of pale green cut foliage. A neat and most beautiful cranesbill for the front of a bed. 45cm. Excellent autumn colour. Later to flower than other varieties and quite vigorous. Introduced by Graham Stuart Thomas from Eire in 1947. May to August. Himalayas
Geranium himalayense 'Irish Blue'

Geranium himalayense ‘Irish Blue’

  • Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’ (Geranium himalayense x Geranium pratense) .An old variety and sill one of the bluest and best, it is a deservedly popular hardy geranium  Rich  pure blue flowers are produced in endless succession  throughout summer, a consequence of being a sterile hybrid..The effect is further enhanced by fine slightly silver washed  foliage. A lovely accompaniment to Roses. Sun. 30cm. Selected from one of A.T. Johnson’s seedlings and named in his honour.
Geranium Johnsons Blue with Digitalis and Rosa Princess Alexandra

Geranium Johnsons Blue with Digitalis and Rosa Princess Alexandra

  • Geranium phaeum ‘Waterer’s Blue’. A quite different form of the mourning widow which originated in the same garden as Geranium ‘Rozanne’. G. ‘Waterer’s Blue’ has flowers which are palest Air-Force blue with a central ring of cobalt-blue. The petals are well reflexed. Given that it will succeed very well in dry shady conditions where it will cover ground admirably, it is the ideal plant for lifting a dark corner, though having said that it does look lovely with the light picking out the delicate flowers against a darker background.
Geranium phaeum 'Waterer's Blue'

Geranium phaeum ‘Waterer’s Blue’

Geranium sylvaticum ‘Amy Doncaster’

  • Whilst not quite a true blue, Geranium ‘Amy Doncaster’ certainly boasts the bluest flowers of the sylvaticum cultivars. The flowers are neat and rounded, 2.5cm across with a clear white eye.

Geranium sylvaticum 'Amy Doncaster'

Geranium sylvaticum ‘Amy Doncaster’

  • Geranium pratense is an attractive native cranesbill with beautiful blue blooms (occasionally white) displayed over lush dark green foliage. 2ft. A strong growing plant whose charms are equally well placed in the border or wild garden

Geranium pratense

Geranium pratense

  • Geranium pratense ‘Mrs Kendall Clarke’. Each individual flower is like a church window, beautiful powder blue with pale translucent veins. The flowers are held well above the foliage on stiff upright stems and face boldly outwards. 2ft. June-July. Equally at home in the border or wild garden. Will rebloom if cut back after flowering. The original plant was posted to Walter Ingwersen in the 1930’s by a Mr Kendal Clarke, a benefactor whose identity is lost to history. The original plant is described as being pearl-grey with a rosy tint, but over the years it has changed and the form now found in the trade is the powder blue, veined form that we sell.
Geranium pratense 'Mrs Kendal Clarke'

Geranium pratense ‘Mrs Kendal Clarke’

  • Geranium Orion (Geranium ‘Brookside’ seedling). Geranium ‘Orion’ is very similar to its parent, Geranium ‘Brookside’, but with larger (6.5cm) flowers of violet-blue, rather rhan the truer blue of  Geranium ‘Brookside’. Strong growth combines with beautiful finely divided foliage and amply  produced large violet-blue flowers; each paler in the centre with violet veining. Forms a tight crown from which arise stiff branching stems with a long stalked flower produced from each axil. 60cm tall and a little wider. This arose as a seedling from of Geranium ‘Brookside’. Great either as a free standing mound or scrambling through low shrubs.
Geranium 'Orion'

Geranium ‘Orion’

  • Geranium ‘Brookside’ (Geranium clarkei ‘Kashmir Purple x Geranium pratense). Geranium ‘Brookside’ is a lovely new hybrid which combines strong growth and beautiful finely divided foliage with amply  produced large deep clear blue flowers; each paler in the centre. forms a tight crown from which arise stiff branching stems with a long stalked flower produced fro each axil. 60cm tall and a little wider. Originated at Cambridge University Botanic Garden in 1970. Sets very little seed. This is the seed parent of Geranium ‘Orion’.
Geranium 'Brookside'

Geranium ‘Brookside’

Whites

  • A neat, short, ground-covering geranium with leaves that retain a bright green colour and have a wonderful fresh scent. The flowers of Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’ are a veined white with a subtle pink stained eye and pink stamens with red anthers and are produced in masses. Sun. Geranium Biokovo

Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo'

Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’

  • Geranium x cantabrigense ‘Harz’. A German cultivar, raised by Konigslutter with large white flowers with just a hint of pink; less pink staining than ‘Biokovo’ but with more mat leaves. ‘G. x cantabrigiense is a sterile hybrid raised first at Cambridge university Botanic Garden in 1974, but also occurring in the wild. Grows only about 20cm tall, but will spread to form a dense evergreen mat of highly scented foliage. Flowers May to July. I suspect that the cultivar name ‘Harz’ has got more to do with the Harz Mountains in Northern Germany than the fact that ‘harz’ is the German for ‘resin’.
Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Harz'

Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Harz’

  • Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘St Ola’is one of the first Geranium cultivars produced by Alan Bremner up in the Orkney Isles and it is named in honour of the area in which he lives. It was produced by crossing Geranium dalmaticum ‘Album’ and Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Album’ and is distinguished from the other Geranium x cantabrigiense cultivars by the purity of the white flowers. The flowers are held well up above the foliage, up to 20cm in well grown plants. Makes good spreading clumps – excellent for low ground cover in dryish or sunny spots.

Geranium x cantabrigiense 'St Ola'

Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘St Ola’

  • Geranium sanguineum ‘Album’. Bloody Cranesbill. This is the pure white form of  the bloody cranesbill. It is quite distinctive in that the stems are quite erect, building to form a wide soft hummock of dark green foliage. In summer the mound is covered in open funnel shaped blooms that are the most startlingly pure white. 30cm tall by 60cm wide. May to August
Geranium sanguineum 'Album' with roses

Geranium sanguineum ‘Album’ with roses

  • Geranium nodosum ‘Silverwood’. Lovely apple green glossy leaves topped off with glistening white flowers over a very extended season. The perfect plant for bringing a little sparkle into a difficult dry shady spot in the garden. Geranium nodosum has glossy leaves which are toothed rather than lobed and funnel shaped flowers borne erect from May to September.It is particularly good at coping with dry shade
Geranium nodosum 'Silverwood'

Geranium nodosum ‘Silverwood’

  • (G. lambertii Swansdown x G. traversii Elegans) Whilst the young flowers of Geranium ‘Coombland White’ appear white against the green leaves, bring them indoors on white paper and you can see that they are a pale blush pink with rich ruby red veining and dark stamens. As they age they become much whiter. A newly bred variety which forms a low spreading mound of softly felted marbled leaves above which are held slightly cupped, almost circular flowers that open with a pink tinge and quickly turn white with red veins. A beautiful compliment under old roses. 90cm spread. A lovely subtle variety.

Geranium ‘Coombland White’

Geranium ‘Coombland White’

  • Geranium macrorrhizum ‘White-Ness’ (Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Mount Olympus’). An exciting new colour form from Greece with pure white flowers with a pale green calyx set over fresh apple green foliage. Beautiful to enliven a dry shady spot but also easy and reliable elsewhere. 30cm spreading. Overall this plant is more compact and neater than some of the other Geranium macrorrhizum cultivars. This, combined with the lack of any pink shading makes ‘White-Ness’ very distinctive and charmingly refined.
Geranium 'macrorrhizum 'White Ness'

Geranium ‘macrorrhizum ‘White Ness’

  • Geranium phaeum ‘Album’. The pure white form of the Mourning Widow. Good clean white flowers which are relatively large for the type and lack any central ring. More or less evergreen mounds of foliage and upright stems topped with outward facing flowers. Good in dry Shade.
Geranium phaeum 'Album'

Geranium phaeum ‘Album’

  • Geranium sylvaticum ‘Album’. wood cranesbill. The glistening white form of our native wood cranesbill. Forms a crown of knobbly rhizomes which sprout in spring with stiff upright stems clothed in fresh pale green leaves. The pure white flowers are carried in well branched heads sat above the foliage. 30-45cm. May-June. Useful for shady situations where it is happiest growing.
Geranium sylvaticum 'Album'

Geranium sylvaticum ‘Album’

  • Geranium x oxonianum ‘Trevor’s White’. This is the near white form of this tough geranium which was named in honour of the great geranium enthusiast and expert Trevor Bath. Flowers are produced from June until the frosts and are palest blush, almost white, fading pinker. 60cm. Geranium x oxonianum is the name given to hybrids between G.endressii and G.versicolor. They all form excellent, vigorous weed supressing clumps and benefit from shearing to the ground after the main flowering.
Geranium x oxonianum 'Trevor's White'

Geranium x oxonianum ‘Trevor’s White’

  • Geranium x oxonianum ‘David Rowlinson’ has pure, glistening white petals with translucent veins and strong notched petals give the impression of 10 rather than 5 petals. Young flowers have grey-mauve anthers and the impression of colour in the veins but older flowers are pure white with green eyes.

Geranium x oxonianum 'David Rowlinson'

Geranium x oxonianum ‘David Rowlinson’

  • Geranium pratense ‘Striatum’ (‘Splish Splash’). (‘Bicolor’, ‘Splish Splash’) An unusual sport of our native meadow cranesbill. The basically white flowers are randomly randomly splashed , striped and spotted in violet-blue like some errant child has laid about them with a paintbrush. No two flowers are ever the same. Some petals can be completely blue, but overall the effect is usually paler rather than darker. Earlier flowers tend to be paler . Makes a sturdy upright  plant providing interest and colour in early summer. Equally at home in the border or wild garden. 60cm
Geranium pratense 'Striatum'

Geranium pratense ‘Striatum’

 

 

The genus Geranium is very large, containing at least 420 separate species so it’s no wonder there are so many garden worthy plants to choose from. If we were to generalise, they are on the whole tough, long lived and largely die down to the ground in winter. They fall largely in the range 20-60cm tall and are generally spreading clump formers producing a mound of basal leaves. However, some species, such as Geranium tuberosum produce a forest of stems with no basal leaves and others such as Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’ produce fewer long trailing stems. They are stalwarts of the summer garden, making low mounds at the front of the border, creating carpeting weed suppressing mats or scrambling up through roses or low shrubs. Their long flowering and subtle colours are valuable in so many ways.

Geraniums are suitable for a wide range of different growing conditions, tolerating all but the wettest of soils. Whilst there are Geraniums that are best suited specifically to sun and shade, most will tolerate sun or part shade. Geranium sylvaticum, Geranium nodosum, Geranium phaeum and Geranium macrorrhizum are particularly suited to growing in shady spots.

There is often confusion about which plants the name Geranium refers to, whether it is the cranesbills (Genus Geranium) or the Geraniums (Genus Pelargonium). The confusion arose in the 18th century when they were first being introduced to this country, when both Genera were included in the Genus Geranium. It was soon realised that they needed splitting and the Genus Pelargonium was created. However, as Pelargoniums were at the time the more popular plant, it is to these that the common name ‘geranium ‘ stuck. The confusion has persisted ever since.  The Genus ‘geranium’ is now refered to as ‘the cranesbills’, a reference to the long explosive dispersal mechanism (rostrum) attached to the seeds, or the ‘hardy geraniums’.