What do you think when geraniums are mentioned? In frostless or near frostless regions, Florists and gardeners probably visualize the showy pelargonium or one of its ilk.
But speak of geraniums to the gardener of the Northwest or England or too many an eastern gardener. He will refer to the hardy geraniums or cranesbills, wildflowers of Asia, Europe, Africa, and North and South America.
Geraniums Used In Woodland
In climates where winter cold is not extreme and where rainfall is plentiful, many hardy geraniums and hybrids are used in woodland, bog, wildflower, rock gardens, and perennial borders.
Even in the frigid North Central States, Maine, and the cold Rockies of Canada and the United States, one finds some lovely native geraniums. Other neater growing hardy geraniums are cultivated in these areas, and a few of these have strayed from gardens and become “wild.”
Most hardy geraniums are easy to identify with the help of a wildflower book, but in Mexico, the geraniums bogged me down, and I have never been able to get them straightened out. They grow there in hot barrancas and woods where the graceful pink geraniums prettily soften the stiff, tall blue candelabra of lupines.
Pure White Seedlings
Occasionally Geranium pretense produces pure white seedlings, which are lovely and are grown frequently in gardens in the Southern States. In two English cottage gardens, I found this plant’s double dark purple form.
Although Geranium pratense likes acid muck and is content with any loam, it is also happy in the lime cliffs of England. In Wales, there is a perfect form with large flowers of a clean blue and stalks 3’ feet tall. There are some beautiful strains in English and Canadian gardens also.
Some hardy geraniums are weedy things, and others are muddy magenta in flower color. But there are many others with blooms of rich blues and purples and soft shades of pink
The reddest species is the blood-red cranesbill, Geranium sanguineum, a European wildflower that quickly spreads into a 1’ foot high mat covered with bloom from early spring to late summer.
But, I regret to state that the flowers of most sanguine forms are not really blood red but ruby with dark centers. There is also an engaging white form.
Wild Geranium From Mountain Peaks Of Greece
The wild geranium which comes nearest to having red flowers is Geranium subcaulescent from the mountain peaks of Greece. It is a natural rock plant and revels in gravel and stone chips.
It makes a mat of low woody stems and silvery gray leaves. The flowers of all their forms are some shade of red; the best is cherry red with a black center.
Geranium napuligerum is a green 6” inch plant with thick, velvety leaves and prettily veined light pink petals and black anthers. These last two plants are trendy because they are easy to grow as long as they have good drainage and sun. They come readily from seed.
Fifty or more of these wild geraniums and their hybrids are in cultivation, and others are not in the trade worth growing. If you include the geranium’s close relative, erodium, or herons bill, the number will run to almost 300.
As a rule, they are easy to satisfy as long as they do not have to stand long drought. They bloom freely and over long periods; the same is everblooming in temperate climates.
44659 by Lester Rowntree