Geum montanum, the alpine avens, is a low perennial from the mountains of central and southern Europe, grown for its yellow flowers. It suits rock gardens and does best in cool, well-drained conditions.
Family
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water moderately during the growing season and let the top of the soil dry slightly between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained, gritty or stony soil, neutral to slightly acidic.
Temperature
Hardy to around -20 °C; cool summers suit it best.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Europe
Climate
temperate
About
Geum montanum, the Alpine avens, is a species of flowering plant of the genus Geum in the Rosaceae family, native to the mountains of central and southern Europe.
Where it grows
Geum montanum is widespread in the Alps, typically at elevations in the range 1430–2300 m (though it occurs at as low as 700 m in Centovalli and as high as 3500 m in Monte Rosa). It is found in the Pyrenees, the Cantabrians, the Massif Central, the Black Forest, the Sudetes (1300–1400 m), throughout the Carpathians (900–2500 m in the Tatras), in the north of the Apennines, on the island of Corsica, and on the Balkan Peninsula: in the mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo (specifically in Žljeb and Accursed Mountains), northernmost Greece (2000–2500 m in Varnous, Kajmakčalan and Tzena), in the east of Serbia (Suva Planina) and the west of Bulgaria (at elevations of 1600–2700 m in western and central Stara Planina, Sredna Gora, Vitosha, Osogovo, Rila, Pirin, Slavyanka and the western Rhodopes).
Uses
In cultivation in the UK, Geum montanum has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Geum montanum 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.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.