Geranium phaeum 'Album'
dusky cranesbill
- Position: full sun or partial shade
- Soil: fertile, well-drained
- Rate of growth: average to fast
- Flowering period: May to June
- Hardiness: fully hardy
A useful geranium that will thrive even in damp or dry shade. This has small, nodding, white flowers with yellow centres in late spring to early summer, held high above green, deeply lobed leaves, with distinctive purple blotches around the centre. It will quickly spread to form a hummock of foliage that is good for suppressing weeds. Use it in woodland, among ferns, where the white flowers will shine, or under deciduous trees. - 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.
Dryopteris filix-mas
male fern
Ideal for the woodland garden
Convallaria majalis
lily-of-the-valley
Scented white bells in spring
Woodland
A sanctuary of peace and tranquillity with an overwhelming sense of calm, a woodland garden is an ideal place to get away from it all with natural shade and privacy. Based on...
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...
Read full article
A cool presence with greener leaves and silver-white flowers studded with yellow stamens - not a hint of pink - and good at lightening deep shade
Val Bourne - Garden Writer