The Name of a Plant
Jeff Dolan
Posts: 3
in Plants
Hi everyone,
I'm rather a novice when it comes to gardening, so I apologise in advance for my ignorance.
To get to the point: I recently bought a house with a nice back garden, in which is a beautiful purple shrub. Unfortunately, I have never seen this kind of shrub before and have no idea what it is called. I was wondering if any of you guys could avail me of some information about it?
Thanks a lot in advance!
0
Posts
It's a hardy geranium (aka Cranesbill) Jeff. I'm not sure exactly which one as there are rather a lot of varieties but it might be 'A. T. Johnson' or 'Orkney Blue'.
And a lovely specimen it is too!
It's not a shrub though, those have woody stems. It's a herbaceous perennial, which means it will die right back in the autumn and regrow each spring. Some hardy geraniums keep a few leaves over winter, others don't. The old leaves usually pull off easily, so you can have a tidy up in the autumn if they are covering other plants, or in the spring.
I suspect it may be G.Magnificum which is a purply blue, but blues are sometimes hard to catch on camera.
These are always lovely plants and so easy to propagate. Just pull off pieces near to the base and shove in a pot of compost. Keep moist and hey presto that's another plant in no time at all
During the summer, if it starts to look straggly, just get the shears out and give it a good 'haircut' and it will re-bush and more than not, give you a fresh crop of flowers.
Thanks a lot for the replies, guys! And I very much appreciate the very edifying information and advice Dorcas, Buttercupdays and BobTheGardener! I'm now pretty certain that it is the geranium x magnificum (also known as the purple cranesbill) that you suggested it could be Buttercupdays!
For some inexplicable reason, it looks a lot more pink in the photo than it actually is. It's a lot bluer than that pic would suggest. Beautiful plant, anyway. And it really attracts the bees! Thanks again.