Hardy geraniums are a group of flowering perennials that include many cultivars of the genus Geranium’s several species and hybrids. They go by the names real geraniums, perennial geraniums, and wild geraniums collectively. Other popular names for geraniums are wild geranium, crimson geranium, and cranesbill geranium (Geraniummacrorrhizum) (Geraniummaculatum). Many garden cultivars are the offspring of hybrids created by combining different species.
Tip
Beginners frequently mistake these perennial kinds for an other kind of plant that goes by the name of geranium. They may also be known as zonal geraniums, although the classic annual “geraniums” you see in deck planters and cemetery urns are actually Pelargonium x hortorum hybrids.
The Geranium genus contains a wide range of species, but the majority of those that are grown commercially are low-growing, thick carpet-like plants with flower stalks that poke and weave among other plants. The plant’s surface is covered in flowers that are various colours of white, pink, magenta, purple, and blue. The tiny, cup-shaped flowers, which are about an inch in diameter, draw a lot of butterflies and bees.
Depending on the variety, hardy geraniums can be used in a variety of ways in the landscape. While some types make excellent ground cover or rock garden plants, others are perfect for forest gardens and settings with some shade. Some hardy geraniums only bloom once, generally early in the growing season, while the majority begin to bloom in the middle of the summer and continue to bloom occasionally all through the growing season. Newer cultivars, including “Rozanne,” bloom continuously all summer long.
Hardy Geraniums vs. Pelargoniums
Pelargoniums should not be confused with hardy geraniums. You might be wondering what makes a geranium different from a pelargonium. Similar to some siblings, they are both members of the same plant family, but they could not be more unlike.
Pelargoniums cannot withstand frost, while hardy geraniums can. Pelargoniums are usually treated as annuals and replanted each year, but true hardy geraniums are perennials that grow back every year. Pelargoniums die in the winter.
Prune your Hardy Geraniums
Your sturdy geraniums will look their best and promote new growth if you prune them properly. By correctly pruning your hardy geraniums after the blooming season, you can encourage repeat blooming. The majority of geraniums can be cut back twice in a single season, which allows them to bloom at least three times.
When to Prune
Your hardy geraniums should be pruned in accordance with the season you are in. Rozanne will require various cuts in the spring, summer, and fall. To maintain your blooms rich and healthy, mark your calendar and adhere to our seasonal trimming recommendations.
What tools you need
Your geraniums may be pruned fairly easily. All you’ll need is the ability to prune, a pair of sharp pruners, your favorite mulch, and your favorite gardening gloves. Watch this video to learn more about pruning strategies in detail.
How to prune
You shouldn’t be concerned that pruning your flower’s back will harm her. The majority of hardy geraniums require trimming to promote new growth and prevent them from encroaching upon other plants.
Trim the plant back to within a few inches of the ground or to about an inch above the main stem once the flowering is completed or you find old growth. Remove any brown stems or yellow leaves after that by going inside.
Soon after trimming, more leaves will start to appear. Some resilient geraniums even have the ability to blossom again. Maintaining correct pruning on your plants encourages new development and keeps them from spilling out throughout your landscape.
What pruning advice do you prefer? Share them with us in a comment on our Facebook page!
Geraniums are Perennial
What are the main distinctions between these two gorgeous garden plants? While pelargoniums are annual flowers, real geraniums are permanent plants. Hardy geraniums therefore come back after a season of dormancy without needing to be replanted. Pelargoniums, though, require replanting the next year because they die off after their initial blooming season.
Hardy Geraniums Have Symmetrical Petals
Comparing a pelargonium with a real geranium It is instantly clear how the two are different. Each flower has five petals, however the geranium’s bottom three petals are symmetrical. The upper petals are uniformly spaced around the center and come in a variety of sizes and forms.
You can tell that the real hardy geranium is a unique breed. Rozanne will function admirably for many years as a lovely ground cover, border choice, or container decoration.
Which Geranium is the hardiest?
Your Garden’s Best Hardy Geraniums
- Plant named “Brookside” (Cranesbill)
- Plant named “Elke” (Cranesbill)
- Plant named “Mavis Simpson” (Cranesbill)
- “Orion” geranium (Cranesbill)
- Gardenia patricia (Cranesbill)
- Rosane geranium (Cranesbill)
- Pink “Sweet Heidy” geranium (Cranesbill)
Hardy geraniums prefer shade or the sun.
While the tiny alpine varieties do best in full sun, most hardy geraniums do best in mild shade. Geraniums that are hardy may grow in any type of soil, and some, like Geranium sylvaticum and its cultivars, can survive in extremely dry conditions.
Hardy geraniums are excellent self-seeders and frequently grow in minuscule paving cracks, demonstrating their hardiness.
How to grow hardy geraniums
Hardy geraniums are frequently purchased in pots, but they can also be acquired bare-root online. When purchasing bare-root geraniums, pot them up as soon as they come and plant them outside once they have grown for a few weeks. Unless the soil is extremely bad, there is no need to improve it.
Are hardy geraniums contagious?
Among the most common garden perennials are hardy geraniums, sometimes known as cranesbills. And it’s clear why. They require little care and maintenance, are hardy, easy to grow, and tolerant of a variety of environmental factors.
The bloom color ranges from vibrant to subdued violet, blue, pink, magenta, and white hues, and many have appealing veining in a stronger, contrasting hue. Throughout the summer and well into autumn, several types flower nonstop for months at a time, and some even begin blooming as early as late April. When in bloom, the flowers, which are typically rather small, are produced in such great quantities that they almost completely cover the plants.
Numerous species’ hand-like foliage, which exhibits varied quilting, veining, and color blotching, is also very appealing in and of itself. Additionally, because many of the popularly cultivated kinds are low-growing, they make wonderful ground cover plants due to their dense, carpet-like leaf.
They should not be mistaken with the very similarly related pelargoniums, which aren’t and are primarily used as summer bedding plants, as they are cold- and frost-hardy.
Cultivation
There are kinds that can thrive in direct sunlight, light shade, and even pretty deep shadow. They generally thrive in early morning and late afternoon sun, while some, like Geranium sanguineum and Geranium pratense and their variants, grow well in full light as long as the soil has enough moisture.
Hardy geranium varieties
There is at least one hardy geranium for every garden, every gardener, and every circumstance as there are about 70 species and 700 types to choose from!
Here are the top 10 items that the Royal Horticultural Society suggests:
- Ann Folkard, geranium
- (Cinereum Group) Ballerina named Geranium
- Clarkei Kashmir White Geranium
- Red geraniums
- Theodora Mavis Simpson
- Ingersoll Orion
- The Mrs. Kendall Clark geranium
- Wageningen’s Geranium x oxonianum
- Renardii geranium
- Jolly Bee and Geranium Rozanne (Gerwat)
Planting hardy geraniums
Hardy geraniums can be planted at any time of year, but planting in the fall or winter will ensure that the plants take root effectively and provide an abundance of flowers in their first season. For planting from late autumn to late winter, mail-order vendors often offer bare-rooted plants.
Make a hole that is sufficiently large to readily fit the rootball. Fork in a layer of organic material, such as compost or planting compost, at the bottom of the hole.
Place the rootball in the planting hole, adjusting the planting depth until the rootball’s top is level with the soil and the rootball is planted at the same depth as it was growing initially.
Fill the planting hole with the excavated soil after adding more organic matter to it. To maintain soil moisture and aid in weed control, thoroughly water the area around the tree, then sprinkle a granular general feed over the surrounding soil. Finally, put a 5-7.5cm (2-3in) deep mulch of well-rotted garden compost or bark chips around the tree’s root area.
How to care for hardy geraniums
The majority of hardy geraniums are undemanding, low-maintenance plants.
When the weather is dry during the first year, water thoroughly. To maintain healthy plant growth in succeeding years, watering may be required during extended dry spells.
Late spring mulching around the plants will assist retain soil moisture and control weed growth.
Plants may start to seem messy with sloppy growth after the first early flush of blossoms has faded. After the initial flowering, the majority benefit from a trim to freshen the foliage and promote more blooms. To get rid of the outdated, messy growth, just cut the plants with a pair of shears or secateurs, or more forcefully if necessary, to a height of 5-7.5cm (2-3in) above the ground.
Then feed them with a liquid plant food to promote new growth and additional flowering flushes. After each flowering, pruning and fertilizing can be done again to extend the flowering season of many kinds well into the fall.
With the arrival of colder weather in late autumn, most geraniums’ foliage will start to fade. If you trim the plants’ leftover stems and leaves, they’ll grow new, fresh growth the following spring.
Over time, hardy geranium plants expand, spread, and form enormous clumps. These can be chopped into halves or quarters with a sharp spade. This can be done in the spring when they begin to grow or in the autumn. Every three to five years, divide them to maintain good growth and flowering.
Can geraniums survive the cold outside?
Knowing how to overwinter geraniums is very useful for gardeners since it can help them save money and extend the life of particular varieties they enjoy.
Pelargoniums, sometimes known as geraniums, are mainstays of the summer garden. Geraniums are ideal for adding cheer and long-lasting color to hanging baskets, containers, and borders since they come in a variety of colors and flower continually as long as they are deadheaded.
However, when making your job list, you might consider including them as one of your winter garden ideas.
When growing frost-sensitive plants, planning a winter garden is crucial. Geraniums are perennial plants that put on a long display, but they are frost tender, which means they won’t survive harsh winters. If you are interested in cultivating geraniums, you must learn how to overwinter them.
Geraniums are South African natives that thrive in the heat and can withstand periods of drought with little water.
Pelargoniums, sometimes known as geraniums, may live in USDA zones 7 to temperatures of -12oF (0oC) if they are sheltered. They are hardy in climates between 20oF and 50oF in zones 9 through 12. They need to be sheltered in these conditions because, while they can withstand brief frosts (temperatures slightly below freezing), they cannot withstand prolonged exposure.
The Pelargonium genus contains a wide range of cultivars, all of which are categorized as delicate perennials. According to David Taylor, vice chairman of the UK Pelargonium and Geranium Society, “this means that they are not cold hardy as the majority of the founding species come from the warmer climbs of the Southern Hemisphere.
Perennial plants are able to flourish for a number of years, however in the UK this would mean that they would also need to be sheltered from winter wet and damp in addition to frost.
Geraniums can be cared for like annuals by being dug out in the fall, composted, and then replaced with fresh plants the following year. The appropriate care and attention, however, will enable you to winterize geraniums, keeping them alive throughout the winter so they can bloom once more the following year.
According to David Taylor, vice chairman of the UK Pelargonium and Geranium Society, “Keen enthusiasts keep their pelargoniums in growth during the winter and continue to feed and water but a few key points can be undertaken by anyone to keep your pelargoniums (geraniums) alive throughout the winter” (opens in new tab).
Pelargoniums are known as geraniums, but these plants are not the same as hardy geraniums or cranesbill, which are a different kind of plant and don’t need to be overwintered.
For the winter, should geraniums be pruned back?
You should prune a perennial geranium after it has bloomed all season and starts to wither. This helps the plant store energy for the spring while simultaneously keeping it dormant for the winter. This could need to happen any time between August and late October, depending on your zone. Cut perennial geraniums down to 2 or 3 inches above the soil with a pair of trustworthy shears, ideally at nodes or new growth points. Take out any more flowers or foliage. You’ll have a collection of thick stems that is really ugly. But don’t panic, your blooms will return in full bloom the following spring.
What distinguishes a geranium from a hardy geranium?
What is one of the main distinctions between a pelargonium and a hardy geranium? While the other cannot survive frosts, the former can. True hardy geraniums are perennial plants that don’t need to be replanted each year after being dormant over the winter.
Cranesbills are another name for the hardy geraniums. The name refers to the seed pod’s resemblance to a crane’s beak in shape. The cranesbill spreads its seeds by opening its beak and launching the seeds into the air. Rozanne doesn’t lay eggs, thus she can’t replicate herself in your garden.
Similar to other cranesbills, Rozanne has five identically sized, symmetrical petals. When in bloom, each bush’s numerous long, thin stems give it a wispy, untamed appearance. She can even be used as groundcover because of how low and spread she sprawls. Most people who grow Rozanne in a container give her a “haircut” in the middle of the growing season to make her seem nicer.
All summer long do hardy geraniums bloom?
Hardy geraniums are bursting with flowers and have luxuriant foliage that gives the yard a great texture. They give a lot and demand very little since they are incredibly resilient, pest and disease resistant. The majority of hardy geraniums are absurdly simple to grow. They only need a soil that is well-drained and reasonably rich. In typical summer conditions, a few species are even reliably drought tolerant.
Some hardy geraniums have flowering seasons that last from late spring to late fall, which is quite long (if cut back hard after the first flush of blooms starts to fade in early summer). The better types will bloom constantly throughout the summer, bringing cheery color to your garden.
There are many different colors and textures to pick from to enhance the beauty of your landscape. Consider these top-performing types if you’re searching for a stunning, low-maintenance, hardy geranium that can withstand the seasonal difficulties. You’ll see that several of them have won the esteemed Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit!