Geranium sanguineum 'Album'
bloody cranesbill
- Position: full sun or partial shade
- Soil: fertile, well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: average to fast growing
- Flowering period: May to June
- Hardiness: fully hardy
This pretty cranesbill is smothered with pure white, cup shaped flowers from May though to June. Thriving in full sun or partial shade, it quickly forms loose hummocks of deeply cut, dark green leaves, which is valuable for suppressing weeds. Try it as part of a cottage garden scheme or towards the front of a mixed border. - 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.
Campanula poscharskyana 'E. H. Frost'
bellflower
Groundcover with white flowers
Hosta 'Devon Green'
plantain lily
A much sought-after variety
Polypodium vulgare
common polypody
Native evergreen fern. Very versatile!
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...
Read full article
An invaluable, classic pure-white geranium with dark-green foliage that is happy in hot, dry shade and still keeps its cool persona
Val Bourne - Garden Writer