Help identifying plant?

newgardeners2020

Can anyone identify this plant and advise if it is good for fast spreading long flowering ground cover? What else would anyone recommend? Thanks!

herbaceous

I believe that is a hardy geranium @newgardeners2020, personally rubbish at flowers but my daughter has it to bulk out her borders. Good value I think as it can be split every couple of years - someone will be along soon with more help I'm sure.

The_herpetologist

Geranium (× magnificum 'Rosemoor'?)

newgardeners2020

Ha! shows what total novices we are - this is not how I remember geraniums from my childhood - how embarrassing! Any recommendations on rapid spread and flowering ground cover that is easy to look after? Or easy grasses? Our new garden is vast and we are clueless. Thank you to all!

Dovefromabove

I know what you mean @newgardeners2020  😆 

What we called geraniums in our childhood are now (or should be) called pelargoniums to distinguish them from the geraniums which are hardy and will survive outside in the winter. 

Pelargoniums are not hardy and have to be kept frost free over the winter. 
😊 

FlyDragon

I think it’s called cranesbill geranium, I have it in front and back gardens, it spreads with no effort and makes great ground cover.  It survives being separated and moved in its stride.  The bees seem to like it too. 

newgardeners2020

Thank you so much one and all. We are making things up as we go along in our garden. We watch Gardener's World on a Friday night with a g&t in hand and are both impressed and bewildered! How do people remember which plant to plant, when, cut back in what month and dig up and move when(??) and which plants can be separated (and when!) and which can not. It all looks so lovely - but not a hope of remembering it! All advice is very much appreciated.

steveTu

Sorry to but in, but how do you know the species(type)? I have 'blue geraniums' - but from what I can see there are many 'blue' ones and I had catalogued mine as 'johnsonii' (for no other reason than they were blue and looked like mine superficially - blue with green palmate leaves).

purplerallim

Now you have me thinking @steveTu as I have this too just thought it was common or garden geranium. 
That made me go out and look,  took above picture and then while looking closer at rest of garden noticed that these two , that I thought were the same ground cover plant look different confusion reigns. 🤔🤔
please ignore the escapee strawberry 😁

newgardeners2020

purplerallim - as you say confusion reigns! Certainly looks like same plant as ours in the first photo. That last photo (with strawberry!) is a lovely plant too - are you thinking that one is not geranium at all or just a different variety? We are new to gardening and feel everyone else knows what to do, when and how (and manages to remember it all!). Would be interested to know what that last photo of yours is. I need to go away and look up how to separate plants and when (probably obvious to everyone else though).

purplerallim

The first pic geranium,  that grows up to 12 to 18" tall, the last two proper ground cover not geranium , up to 6" tall. All these were in the garden when we moved in four years ago, so have never known the names. They can have a top trim in winter when they die back, but come back strong. The second two photos are plants moved into that area last year after hubby built a new raised bed. All that is one years growth.