For May, 1923 



119 



Some Hardy Geraniums In An Old World Garden 



ARTHUR T. JOHNSON, F.R.H.S. 



IN dealing w ith a i^enus so rich in species and varieties 

 as that to which the Geraniums, or Cranesbills belong, 

 one has of necessity to omit many worthy kinds. But 

 those whicli I refer to below comprise a list of species 

 which in this country at any rate have proved their merit 

 under a wide variety of conditions, 'I'hey are the "pick 

 of the basket" in so far as color and form are concerned 



(icraiiiiim 



and are perfectly hardy, easy-tempered and reHable plants. 



Perhaps the most gorgeous of these hardy Geraniums is 

 G. armenum (G. psilostemon of Knuth), an herbaceous 

 species "which will go up to three feet in height and cover 

 a dozen square feet with its noble foliage and heavy 

 clusters of flovv'ers. The tint of magenta which creeps 

 into the brilliant crimson of these splendid blossoms may 

 be counted an undesirable feature by some, but to my 

 mind the jet black of the eye and veining of the velvety 

 flowers is just sufficient to counteract any harshness that 

 there may be in their sumptuous color. This is a plant 

 to grow at the edge of the shrubbery, or woodland, or as 

 a specimen on the lawn where, backed by an amplitude 

 of green, it will be enjoyed to the fullest advantage. 



In some respects G. anemonasfolium is a more refined 

 species than the above. Though it has been in cultiva- 

 tion for many years it is still uncommon, possibly be- 

 cause it, being a native of Madeira, is not as hardy as 

 most of its kindred. It has the habit of leafing during 

 the Winter and Spring months wliich renders it liable 

 to be cut by frost. Nevertheless, I am constrained to 

 include G. anemon;efolium here since it has withstood 

 20 degrees of frost with the protection of a little dry 

 fern and because it is generally such an easy doer in most 

 soils. The broad and fleshy leaves of this species rise on 

 stifT, straight stems from a short, woody stock to the 

 height of some two feet. They are deeply cut and a rich, 

 glossy green, and clear above them in the early Summer 

 appear the flowering stems. These also are peculiarly 

 rigid and, like those of the leaves, covered with iridescent 

 hairs. The flowers that are borne in pairs at the many- 

 branched ends of these stems are of an exquisite satiny 

 rose- pink, the central eye and conspicuous stamens being 

 a vivid blood crimson. This fine Geranium will main- 

 tain a succession of blossom throughout the Summer. 



Here it sets seed freely, the seedlings are easily raised 

 and invariably come true. A moderately cool position 

 with shelter from the midday sun is most suitable for 

 (1. anemon;efulium and the choicest place in the garden 

 is not too good for a plant of such undeniable merit. It 

 should hardly be necessary to add that this noble plant 

 must not be confused with G. Lowii, an error into which 

 even the Kew Hand List once fell. The latter is a bien- 

 nial, whereas the Madeiran plant is a true perennial. G. 

 Lowii is, moreover, more like an overgrown Herb Robert 

 than anything else and wh(;lly unlike anemonrefnlium in 

 every wa_\-. 



Another member of the genus which likes shade — 

 cooler conditions, indeed, than any other — is G. walli- 

 chianum. This is a trailer which will cover nearly a 

 s{juare yard with its red-hued stems and grey-green 

 Laves and bears an abundance of broad, saucer-shaped 

 flowers from July to November. In the old type these 

 blooms are a low-toned purple, but a much better, ex- 

 ceedingly beautiful form and one that is now entirely 

 superseding the former is that known as Buxton's Variety 

 in which the flowers are a lovely Nemophila blue with 

 a large central zone of pure white. This species is quite 

 hardy anywhere in this country and one that dies back 

 to the base in the Fall. 



Our native G. sanguineum wdiich makes a rounded 

 mass of tangled stems and deeply-cut leaves about ten 

 inches high, bearing large flowers in a bold crimson, 

 must always be included among the best of the hardy 

 Geraniums. This is one of the easiest to manage, it 

 is fond of lime and a warm sunny spot in poor soil. Of 

 the many varieties of this species G. nepalense may be 

 described as a magnified edition of the type (though its 

 name actually belongs to another) and then there is the 

 very charming pure white one which is so much larger in 

 all its parts than G. sanguineum itself that some class it 

 as a sub-species. Nor can one omit the dainty little G. s. 

 var. lancastriense, which has a dense, prostrate habit and 

 pretty salmon-rose blossoms — a gem for the rock-garden 

 and as easy-tempered as it is pretty. 



G. nodosum, again, bears some resemblance to the 

 last-named in habit, making a mat of finely-cut, greyish 

 green foliage which it adorns with flowers of a cheerful 

 crimson. Like sanguineum this species seeds freely about 

 our dry, hot banks and, not content with that, the two 

 intermarry without restraint and people the garden with 

 their hybrid offspring in every conceivable shade between 

 a low-toned purple and a blazing crimson. Another couple 

 which insist on hybridising, and which are even more 

 successful colonists, are G. endressi and striatum. The 

 former bears flowers of a strong pink, resembling the 

 color of a raspberry ice, and those of the latter are scrib- 

 bled with a network of fine rose and white veinings. 

 Between them, these manage to raise an innumerable 

 family of youngsters which, in the interests of domestic 

 peace, bear an equal resemblance to each parent. 



G. grandiflorum has perhaps the largest flowers of all 

 its kind, an excellent species of about one foot high, 

 spreading slowly by root-stems, and bearing throughout 

 the Summer big, nodding cups of an intense ultramarine 

 blue. Somewhat taller and more compact in habit is 

 the fine old silky-leaved G. ibericum with its bunches of 

 large blue-purple blossoms and gorgeous autumnal leaf 

 color. G. platypetalum, once considered a form of the 



{Continued on page 123) 



