Cranesbill

Geranium wallichianum Buxton's Variety

• Position: full sun or partial shade
• Soil: fertile, well-drained soil
• Rate of growth: fast growing
• Flowering period: July to October
• Hardiness: fully hardy
  
  One of the later-flowering geraniums, this has soft, blue-mauve flowers with a distinctive splash of white around the centre and deeper purple veins. The flower colour intensifies as the weather gets colder and the plant keeps on flowering until October. The pretty, marbled foliage quickly forms dense drifts, valuable for suppressing weeds, and turns a fabuluous shade of red in autumn.

• 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.