Geranium 'Brookside'
cranesbill
- Position: full sun or partial shade
- Soil: fertile, well-drained
- Rate of Growth: average
- Flowering period: June to August
- Hardiness: fully hardy
Large deep blue, saucer-shaped flowers with distinctive white centres from June to September among deeply divided mid-green leaves. This lovely cranesbill is a comparatively recent introduction, valued for its intense blue blooms and long-flowering season. It's excellent for supressing weeds at the front of a mixed or herbaceous border or as part of a blue colour-themed scheme. - Garden care: In midsummer rejuvenate plants that are beginning to look jaded, by removing old flowered stems and leaves. Lift and divide large colonies in spring.
Iris 'Black Swan'
bearded iris
Sumptuous dark purple, bearded flowers
Rosa Bonica ('Meidomonac') (PBR)
rose Bonica (shrub)
Fully double pink flowers
Aster × frikartii 'Mönch'
michalmas daisy
Lavender-blue, daisy flowers
Rosa 'Charles de Mills'
rose Charles de Mills (gallica)
Beautiful magenta-pink flowers
How to get more flowers
Many flowering plants can be encouraged to produce better and longer-lasting displays with the minimum of effort. A plant produces flowers in order to reproduce and ensure the survival of the species. Once a plant has flowered and fertilisation has...
Read full articleMediterranean
Mediterranean gardens can take on various guises from the rustic and rambling to the formal elegance of an Italian courtyard. However, they all have key features in common, including the use of exotic, sometimes tender, drought-tolerant plants in pots and...
Read full articleGet more flowers
Deadheading will prevent them setting seed and so use their energy producing a further flush of blooms later on. Plants that respond well to deadheading include annuals such as Ageratum, Alyssum, Antirrhinum, Calendula, Centaurea, Cosmos, Dahlia, foxglove, Californian poppy, sweet...
Read full articleChelsea Chop and other methods of extending the flowering season
Many gardeners who are happy, even gung-ho, with the secateurs when pruning shrubs and climbers are surprisingly reluctant to take the shears to herbaceous perennials. Maybe this is because it just doesn’t seem quite right to be cutting back all...
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A white-eyed mid-blue meadow cranesbill with a longer flowering season and flowers borne on longer, laxer stems
Val Bourne - Garden Writer