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Hardy Geraniums

MeomyeMeomye Posts: 949
in Plants
Can anyone recommend any long flowering bright coloured varieties for front of border and ground cover please. I know there was a thread some time ago with peoples favourites but I can not find it. In fact I am not very good at finding anything I 'search' for, no idea what I do wrong! Thank you for your time. 
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Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The strong pinks would be ideal - Anne Folkard and Anne Thompson, for example.
    There's a couple which are similar, but I can't recall the names. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    If you want ones that look "tidy" for the front of the border, have a look at the varieties of G. sanguineum, and G. Johnson's Blue. For more sprawly spready types that will weave their way through other plants, the ones that @Fairygirl suggests, plus Rozanne if you want blue.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Cambridgerose12Cambridgerose12 Posts: 1,134
    Geranium 'Rozanne' is a good one, also 'Dragon Heart', though that's a bit large. There are some good low-growing forms starting to appear too-- check out 'Orkney Cherry', for example. 
  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    I second the recommendation for 'Anne Thomson', here is a photo of mine. Flowering May-Oct. 'Rozanne' is good too, for a smaller version there's 'Azure Rush'.

  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    For ground cover I use Geranium Cantabrigiense Biokovo (spelling!). It's not particularly long flowering but the foliage is quite attractive and (in my garden) is present for 10 months of the year - sometimes longer. The flowers are a pretty very pale pink. Each plant forms a mat about 1m in diameter. Very easy to propagate by pulling bits off and sticking it in the ground and I grow it every condition from dry soil, full sun to heavy quite moist, full shade. Does best somewhere between the two but very accommodating.

    For tidy, front of border plants I'd also recommend looking at the sanguineum and alpine species as suggested by Jenny.

    For a long flowering, reasonably well behaved sprawler and twiner I also vote for Anne Thompson. If she gets a bit too straggly she'll flower again after a haircut. The new foliage of Anne Folkard is a lovely acid green but (in my dry garden) it gets tatty quite quickly and the plant is just a little to straggly for my taste. Anne T is much better behaved!
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • Cambridgerose12Cambridgerose12 Posts: 1,134
    Anne Thompson is lovely, @edhelka. I keep up with 'Plantsman's Preference' and the helpfully named 'Hardy Geranium Nursery' which constantly have new introductions, and that's quite fun. I have a big problem with molluscs and mice which seem to take it in turn to graze my geraniums to the ground, but I did try some others that were good while they survived: 'Blue Sunrise', which has golden foliage, and 'Ivan', quite a low-growing plant with the usual magenta/black flowers. 
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    Anne Folkard is a beautiful geranium but not really front of border or ground cover material, also does not like to be exposed to high temperatures such as we have had in the past couple of summers so is best kept in partial shade.
    The sanguineums (come in beautiful shades of purple or pale pink) are great for front of border or ground cover and they flower throughout the summer.
    Macrorrhizums are worth a look. They are evergreen which is a bonus, but only flower once or twice during the season though they make up for this by looking good all year round.
    The macrorrhizums are easily propagated.....just snap off a long piece of stem, remove all but three or four leaves, and then tuck into the soil and water well.

  • Bee witchedBee witched Posts: 1,295
    I'd echo @Topbird's suggestion of Biokovo.
    Another to consider is Geranium maculatum 'Expresso' .... lovely chocolate foliage and nice neat clumping plant.
    https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/178912/Geranium-maculatum-Espresso/Details

    I love Ann Folkard, but it does sprawl everywhere and is best in amongst shrubs which it will clamber over.

    Bee x
    Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders  

    A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Geranium 'Elke' is one of the longest flowering sanguineum types, very neat and small. But I really like Anne Thompson; it will flop forwards onto your path or lawn a bit, and mingle in with other plants, but just cut back if it starts getting too voluminous. You can cut out wayward stems individually or cut it to the base - it will bounce back in a few weeks.

    It's really amazingly long flowering, late May until October.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • KayJKayJ Posts: 82
    Mavis Simpson delighted me last year, weaving through other perennials beautifully, it's a pale pink. Pink Penny is brighter, more magenta. Can second Blue Sunrise for a blue one with lovely golden leaves. Joy was another lovely ground cover one, currently under my new roses.
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