Geranium himalayense 'Gravetye'
cranesbill
- Position: full sun or partial shade
- Soil: fertile, well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: average to fast growing
- Flowering period: May to July
- Hardiness: fully hardy
Violet-blue, saucer shaped flowers with red-tinged white centres, up to 7cm across, appear in early summer among distintively veined, fern like, mid-green leaves. This exquisite cranesbill has a main flush of flowers in early to midsummer, but will then usually continue to flower intermittently into the autumn. It makes a very pretty groundcover plant and will even thrive in some shade. - 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.
Foeniculum vulgare 'Giant Bronze'
fennel - bronze
Tall perennial with feathery, bronze leaves
Iris 'Superstition'
bearded iris
Purple-black flowers
Rosa Falstaff ('Ausverse') (PBR)
rose Falstaff (shrub)
Powerful old rose fragrance
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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Clouds of small violet-blue flowers, with red-purple centres and veins, fuse warmly together in this spreading ( but non-invasive ) billowing geranium
Val Bourne - Garden Writer