Over the years, I have begun to favour the additional use of geraniums (pelargoniums) throughout the summer. Back in 2022, after making significant design changes to my garden, to make it more drought tolerant and easier to look after as I got older, I made a conscious decision to stop using conventional summer bedding plants for my displays in containers and substitute them with more drought tolerant plants such as geraniums.
Intense colour spectrum
Over the last few years, rather than having any real favorites as such, I just love the fabulous colour range across all types, I’ve tended to buy various coloured trailing geranium and upright zonal geraniums. My choices are usually based on what the local garden centre has at the time I buy, which is usually late April to mid-May, allowing me to get my garden ready to open for visitors from June onwards.
Now, I only use them in a variety of different containers like my unique half-boat window box or the two troughs on stands below. The spindly trailing geraniums in the troughs actually survived outside through the winter of 2024/25 and came back into full bloom for last summer, augmented with some newly purchased upright zonal plants.
Easy gardening
When I first started opening the garden back in 2009, I used to take cuttings and grow them on. But over time and my need to utilise my heated and undercover space to house my huge collection of succulents through the harsh winter months, has meant I tend to buy new each plants each year now.
Perennials
As I mentioned at the onset, geraniums (pelargoniums) are popular perennial flowering plants and geranium is a common name that refers to two different plant families; geranium and pelargonium. True geraniums are hardy, we call these cranesbills or hardy geraniums (see below), while pelargoniums are tender perennials that are mainly treated as annuals here in the UK climate. Confusingly both are generally referred to as ‘geraniums’ by most of the gardening fraternity.
Summer stalwarts
Sun-loving and drought-tolerant, geraniums (pelargoniums) are the perfect flowers to bring a real Mediterranean feel to your borders, containers and hanging baskets. To get the very best from them, they need to be grown in well-draining soil, in a sunny spot that, ideally, benefits from up to eight hours of sunshine a day. They should be watered only when the topsoil feels dry but it is important to allow the compost to dry out between waterings.
Keep them flowering
Regular feeding helps too and I always use Richard Jackson’s Flower Power through the summer months. If you are meticulous and deadhead spent blooms and the occasional yellow leaves you will encourage more flowers, guaranteeing a fabulous display all summer.
The plants will benefit from good air circulation as well. Their only downfall is that they will need to be brought indoors before the first frost, as they aren’t frost-hardy. That said, in recent years I have opted to leave many of mine in situ, due to lack of storage space, and surprisingly, quite a few have made it through the winter and come back to life in the spring.
Container plants
Most popular for container growing nowadays are upright or trailing varieties like the ivy-leaved plants. You can prune them to maintain shape and prevent straggly growth by snapping off spent stems or damaged leaves quite easily. If you plan to overwinter, the tender plants must be brought indoors before frost or propagated from cuttings to survive winter. They do grow well with other flowers too, like dahlias, ferns and helichrysum silver.
Get the best from geraniums (pelargoniums)
Geraniums (pelargoniums) love warm, sunny positions but will still do very well in areas of part shade. This is very fortuitous as my rear garden faces north and has a plentiful supply of containers that do not get much, if any sun, throughout the summer months.
You can spread geraniums around, through beds and borders but it is best to avoid deep shade and waterlogged areas. They are absolutely perfect for containers and are an easy way to brighten up your whole garden, including hanging baskets and window boxes. Unlike other plants, they don’t flag in the heat, so they’re especially good for drought-prone areas. For the best results however, ensure they’re kept moist and receive some sun each day. In my experience they are great plants to be set against something like helichrysum (main image), a very popular choice in my garden. You can get the plant in both gold and silver but as you see, they stand out beautifully against the silver leaved background.
Around my central steps I have pots of eucomis (pineapple lily) and once again teamed with both trailing and upright geraniums they look amazing.
Hardy geraniums (Cranesbill)
Hardy geraniums (Cranesbill) on the other hand are completely different plants and are much more robust and can be overwintered in the garden, and spread to form excellent groundcover as well. I was given some a few years ago that now look wonderful in a large trough in the centre of the garden but sadly I am unsure of its name.
Meanwhile one of the few plants that is original to the garden when we moved in, back in 2004 is this pretty geranium which grows in the gravel of the beach garden at the front of the house. Likewise, these pretty hardy geraniums have appeared in recent years growing in the gravel too.
However, one I bought recently as I just loved its pretty flowers is Geranium pratense ‘Algera Double’. It is a compact plant suitable for the front of a border or small spot that needs something pretty. The double white flowers are just touched with soft violet and borne in small clusters above deeply divided, mid-green leaves.
Meadow cranesbill
The Geranium pratenses, also known as the ‘meadow cranesbill’ are native to the UK and Europe and can sometimes be found growing in grass verges in parts of the countryside. No surprise then that they like to be in full sun, while having their roots consistently moist. They come in blue, white, pink, and, rather unusually, white with splashes of blue in the same flower! There are also double varieties and smaller varieties with red foliage, which have either blue or white flowers. They are a fantastically diverse species and aside from the double ones, provide a great nectar source for pollinators. They also come in a range of heights. The species itself being a pretty tall plant, whereas some of the small red foliaged varieties could potentially be grown in containers, with consistent, careful watering. They flower plentifully in mid-season and as with most cranesbills, will come back again for more if cut back after their first flush.
Hardy geraniums are one of the most diverse genera of herbaceous perennials. It is possible to find a geranium to suit most parts of your garden, from the vast range of species and varieties available. They complement most other plants beautifully and, chosen wisely, can provide a continuation of colour in the garden from spring through to early winter. So why not choose some for your plot?
