Hardy Geraniums

I really love the hardy geraniums and would love to add more to my collection so thought it would be good to start a new thread where members could post pictures of which varieties they have, mainly to give me ideas to add to my wishlist , here are the varieties I have already
Geranium 'Johnsons Blue' got to be one of my favourites

Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevans Variety' sooo easy to propogate from cuttings and lovely autumn foliage and scented leaves, not to everyones taste but I like it

Geranium macrorrhizum white not sure of name?
Now this one I swapped on a swapshop as Splish Splash but have since been told it could be Nimbus? gorgeous lilac colour and around 2-3ft tall, really love it, have heard that Splish Splash grown from seed can produce some plain white or lilac plants so still not sure which it is.

Geranium 'Orientalibeticum' now this one just wants to take over the world veeeery vigorous variety, even spread into the lawn and survuves a weekly cut but love the patterned leaves.

Geranium 'Phaeum'
Grew this from seed and have quite a few different colours of purple.

 

Geranium 'Psilostemon' given to me my my Dad many years ago and still a favourite, great colour.

Geranium 'Snowflakes'

Geranium Pyrenaicum 'Summer Snow' fabulous geranium can flower 3 times a year if cut back after flowering but boy does it seed around as does the pink variety 'Summer Sky'

Geranium Sanguineum 'Vision Violet'

And lastly this variety which popped up in a packet of mixed seed, don't have a clue which it is
Would love to see other members photos, really like the double varieties and would love to see pictures and recommendations of which to buy

 

Simbad, you've got loads of space in your garden as it seems?! If I would fit all those geraniums in mine it would be full
I only have 1)well known geranium brookside( a hybrid between G. clarkei and G. pratense), quite blue with just a hint of purple, will arch onto the lawn so its a nice plant for the edge, though up to 2 foot tall I guess (hard to say now, just trying to remember last year..), second blossom as good as the first

I have got 2) a dark pink one but I don't know the name, but it does not blossom very prolifically, I only left it because I didn't have the heart..
And I have 3) some wild weedy ones(geranium molle -dovesfoot cranesbill), they have very tiny pink flowers only, not really of any ornamental value, I let a few of them grow to make honour to my "loveweeds" name

 

Lovely border Loveweeds , the blue/lilac ones are gorgeous aren't they, I bought one last year, which I hope will flower this year, called Midnight Reiter dark leaves and lilacy flowers, those wild ones pop up all over my garden too, but the little flowers are quite pretty
Yes we do have quite a big garden 3rd acre, and still lots of grass to dig up

 

Great thread, Simbad. I'll post some pics later in the season. My favourite is 'Ann Folkard'. It is a psilostemon cross and has the same bright magenta flowers with a black eye. The leaves are a pale yellowish green which really sets off the flowers. It blooms for ages and is a great plant to grow through other things. It trails all over the place but never takes over as it will only ever grow from one central root and it doesn't set seed.

I grew the double blue 'summer skies' for a while but, although it is beautiful, I went off it for two reasons: the plant is tall and needs staking to prevent it from flopping over (some things can flop artfully, others just keel over and look a mess) and the dead flowers don't drop from the plant, but remain there looking terrible unless you pick them off by hand. Maybe I'm just fussy.

I love the little G. sanguineum varieties, which make neat clumps and have lovely leaves.

 

Oooo look forward to seeing your pictures Clara 'Ann Folkard' sounds stunning, mmm maybe the doubles aren't such a good idea then, I'm terrible for remembering to stake things till its too late , and having to deadheads not good either, need all my time to deadhead the daylilies, I love the sanguineums too I have a division from the plant above growing beneath a cotinus and it grows up through the branches, looks lovely against the purple leaves, purely accidental planting though .
There are sooo many lovely ones now aren't there .

 

In the Fine Gardening mag, they feature 180 types tested. Can google for the mag and story.

 

I like the psilostemons too, and they are self-seeding in my garden. I saw some fantastic psilostemons at the Alnwick garden, 4 foot tall and across- I wonder if the ones I'm growing from seed will do that? When it flops over I give it a good haircut, a water and a feed - that seems to work with most geraniums and produces a fresh crop of foliage.

I used to have G procurrens which is a parent of Ann Folkard. A great colour, deep magenta, and very vigorous. I took care to keep it in a pot and not let it touch the ground or it would have been off, bouncing across the garden like a buttercup. Sadly, it died in that dreadful winter.

ClaraLou - do you know of a way of propagating Ann Folkard? I wondered if it would root from a stem node if taken at this time of year.

My absolute favorite has to be G canariensis. An even more choice one would be G maderense, not sure how much difference there is, G palmatum is also very similar. I had loads of this, and it seeded around happily, but the winter of 2010/11 saw it off and not one seedling has appeared since. I'm nursing 8 from bought seed though.

 

It's a notoriously difficult plant to propagate - although clearly the commercial growers must manage it very efficiently. I've never attempted to do so although my mum has had several tries with no success. The RHS says 'propagate by division in spring or propagate by basal cuttings in early to mid spring and root with bottom heat'.

I suspect that taking basal cuttings is the way to go - I believe that's what the nurseries do.

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Hi Simbad, I bought Midnight Reiter last week and we'll see how we both get on this Summer. You have a superb collection. I have a postage stamp size garden so have to be careful but I have Anne Folkhard bulking up a bit now. Aaah, and little "Buxton's Variety along the front garden path. I adore them too,
Jenny namaste

 

Thanks Redstar I'll have a google for that
I had a go at growing maderense from seed Madahhlia the plants got to to a a few inches tall then just died!!! don't know why, know they aren't hardy and like a sheltered spot but these never even made it out the greenhouse , it is a beauty though, maybe time to have another go :WINK1:.
I noticed I have a seedling popping up of psilostemon the first one ever , lucky you thats one I wouldn't mind seeding around more.
Thankyou Jenny , thought I'd lost the Midnight Reiter the leaves were very slow to emerge but its got going a bit now, can't wait to see it flower just love those dark leaves

 

Just beautiful.