Wood Cranesbill

Geranium sylvaticum Mayflower

• Position: full sun or partial shade
• Soil: fertile, moist, well-drained soil
• Rate of growth: average to fast-growing
• Flowering period: June to July
• Hardiness: fully hardy
  
  Rich, violet-blue, saucer-shaped flowers with white centres appear in early summer among deeply cut, mid-green leaves. The flowers, a particularly intense shade of violet-blue, are up to 3.5cm (more than one inch) across. This is a variety of one of our native geraniums, whose white flowers are often seen growing in boggy ground and woodland, and this charming variety is also happiest in shady areas that don't get too dry in summer. Try it in woodland, or as groundcover towards the middle of a moist, shady 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.