Geraniums often bring visions of Grandma’s garden with their robust, scented foliage and dazzling flower heads. These geraniums are annuals for most regions and belong to a separate genus in the Geranium family known as Pelargoniums. Today, however, we are going to take a look at another type of perennial geranium in the same plant family known as hardy geraniums or cranesbills.
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| Max Frei Bloody Cranesbil first bloom of the season |
Hardy geraniums come in a variety of growth habits, flower color and bloom time. They can be hardy for zones 5-81. Geranium flowers have 5 sepals, 5 petals and stamens in groups of 52. Some are long season repeat bloomers while others give a flush of blooms once a season. The leaves are lobed and can have varying degrees of dissection between cultivars. Some cultivars have foliage that turns a beautiful red color in the fall, extending their season of interest.
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| Rozanne Geranium using Gaura as a support |
One of the best known varieties of cranesbill geranium is Rozanne with its purple-blue flowers. Rozanne is a vigorous perennial that plays well with other plants, using them as support as it winds and weaves its way around. It has a growth spread of up to 3 feet3 but can be sheared back to rejuvenate if it begins to appear leggy. It blooms from late spring through autumn.
There are also varieties of hardy geraniums that have deep dark foliage such as midnight ghost with its chocolatey brown leaves, wine colored stems and white flowers. In all, there are around 300 different cultivars4 of hardy geraniums and many of the lesser known varieties can be purchased online as bareroot plants. They are wonderful plants that can add a pop of color to a garden or be used in a mass planting for ground cover.
In contrast to its more vigorous
growing cousin, Max Frei Bloody cranesbill grows in a tidy, mounding clump of 12-18 inches with small bright magenta flowers against its rich green foliage. A perfect front-of-the-border perennial. The foliage turns brilliant red in the fall extending its season of interest.
growing cousin, Max Frei Bloody cranesbill grows in a tidy, mounding clump of 12-18 inches with small bright magenta flowers against its rich green foliage. A perfect front-of-the-border perennial. The foliage turns brilliant red in the fall extending its season of interest.
There are also varieties of hardy geraniums that have deep dark foliage such as midnight ghost with its chocolatey brown leaves, wine colored stems and white flowers. In all, there are around 300 different cultivars4 of hardy geraniums and many of the lesser known varieties can be purchased online as bareroot plants. They are wonderful plants that can add a pop of color to a garden or be used in a mass planting for ground cover.
1. Cranesbill, Hardy Geranium
https://extension.illinois.edu/flowers/cranesbill-hardy-geranium
2. The Genus Geranium: https://canr.udel.edu/udbg/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2024/02/Geranium-Featured-Plant-Article.pdf
3. Geranium ‘Rozanne’ the 2008 Perennial of the Year
https://www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/yardandgarden/geranium-rozanne-the-2008-perennial-of-the-year/
4. Hardy Geraniums for Northern Gardens
https://www.chicagobotanic.org/downloads/planteval_notes/no22_geraniums.pdf
