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Crane's-bills

Geranium

Also called Crane's Bill, Crane's Bill, Geranium, Cranes' Bills, Geraniums And Cranesbills, Cranebills

Crane's-bills
Photo: Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 3.0

Geranium is a genus of about 422 annual, biennial and perennial plants, often called hardy geraniums or cranesbills, mostly grown as hardy perennials for their flowers and foliage. They grow in any soil as long as it is not waterlogged.

Family
Geraniaceae (Geranium family)
Grows as
Annual, Perennial
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then as needed; avoid waterlogged soil.
Soil
Well-draining but moisture-retentive soil rich in humus.
Temperature
Most species are winter-hardy; some tender species need protection in cold areas.
How easy
Easy

About

Geranium is a genus of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as geraniums, hardy geraniums, or cranesbills. They are found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, with the greatest diversity in the eastern part of the Mediterranean region.

The palmately cleft leaves are broadly circular in form. The flowers have five petals and are coloured white, pink, purple, or blue, often with distinctive veining. Geraniums will grow in any soil as long as it is not waterlogged. Propagation is by semiripe cuttings in summer, by seed, or by division in autumn or spring.

How to grow it

A number of geranium species are cultivated for horticultural use and for pharmaceutical products. Some of the more commonly grown species include:

All the above species are perennials and generally winter-hardy plants, grown for their attractive flowers and foliage. They are long-lived and most have a mounding habit, with palmately lobed foliage. Some species have spreading rhizomes. They are normally grown in part shade to full sun, in well-draining but moisture retentive soils, rich in humus. Other perennial species grown for their flowers and foliage include: Geranium argenteum, G. eriostemon, G. farreri, G. nodosum, G. procurrens, G. pylzowianum, G. renardii, G. traversii, G. tuberosum, G. versicolor, G. wallichianum, and G. wlassovianum. Some of these are not winter-hardy in cold areas and are grown in specialized gardens like rock gardens. Geranium 'Johnson's Blue' is a hybrid between G. himalayense (southwestern China), with G. pratense (European meadow cranesbill).

Other Geranium plants

Geranium albanum · Geranium aristatum · Geranium asphodeloides · Geranium cinereum · Geranium clarkei · Dalmatian Crane's Bill · Endres's cranesbill · Himalayan Crane's Bill · Iberian geranium · Hardy geranium · Spotted geranium · Madiera cranesbill

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Geranium by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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