“IF in doubt, plant a geranium,” wrote English cottage-garden pioneer Margery Fish. And in the past 50 or 60 years, hardy geraniums, also known as cranesbills, have become established as Britain’s most valuable, most appreciated, and most collected hardy perennial. Not only that, but one hardy geranium was even voted as Plant of the Centenary!
Not to be confused with the frost-tender geraniums of window boxes and bedding schemes, hardy geraniums, while lacking in flamboyance, make up for this their long flowering season, their resilience, their weed suppressing effectiveness and their knack for mingling with other plants.
Hardy geraniums in the garden
One reason that hardy geraniums are so popular is that they have so many uses. There are varieties for sun or shade, for moist soil and dry, and for rich soil and poor. There are dwarf and compact varieties for the front
