Cranesbills are cracking plants but you’ll need to linger long over a challenging choice

CRANESBILL NURSERY is in celebratory mood as it digs up its own piece of history – a ruby anniversary catalogue in praise of that diverse and versatile flower, the hardy geranium.

Not that Cranesbill has been in the same spot for 40 years, nor has its current owner, Gary Carroll, been at the helm for this length of time.
In fact, it uprooted from Redditch, Worcestershire, where it had germinated in 1984, to Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, in 2011 and finally to Walsall in 2016 when Gary took over the botanical tiller.
Gary, who once worked as a gardener for the National Trust at Moseley Old Hall, Wolverhampton – a small 17th century farmhouse – has produced yet another high-quality handbook listing 120 species and varieties and is at pains to let it be known there are more listings on the website (cranesbillnursery.com).

So what are hardy geraniums? Not to be confused with their close but tender relatives, pelargoniums – which are invariably dubbed geraniums anyway – the hardies are strictly cranesbills, hence the title of Gary’s nursery.
They are essentially a grow-anywhere hardy perennial, blooming in spring, summer or autumn – sometimes in all three seasons – depending on variety, happy in full sun or part-shade, unfussy, tough as a rhino’s hide and relishing life in any type of soil, provided you give it decent drainage.
Furthermore, many have attractive foliage, some assuming rich or contrasting autumn tints, while others bear shiny leaves, some bronzy purple, velvety or deep-cut. Now these are cracking credentials!

But it’s the flowers that tend to send geranium fanatics into a spin.
Colours range from pure white to vibrant magenta as well as pinks, purples, near-blues, lilacs and shades so deep they appear almost black.
A random selection of Cranesbill’s photos gives a clear indication of these plants’ beauty. As catalogue browsers will see, many varieties boast delicate and intricate veining along the petals, while others have jet-black eyes or paler centres.
Take note too of varieties labelled RHS Award of Garden Merit for all-round excellence. At a flat rate of £11.25 per plant, including these award-winners, and destined to last for years, this represents sterling value.

Do remember that geraniums seldom top 18in, though a handful have height on their side, such as Splish Splash, Raven and the globally-famed and sun-loving Rozanne (24in), while Geranium psilostemon almost kisses the clouds at 4ft, with a sizeable 3ft spread.
Chiefly, though, the cranesbills stay close to soil level and some are classed as ground huggers. One, which I picked at random, is Geranium sanguineum striatum with large, ruffled marshmallow-pink blooms with fine red lines, no more than 8in from the ground and a generous flowering span of May to September.
Intriguingly, they grow freely on Walney Island off the Lancashire coast.
A handy hint is to dead-head the flowers as and when they fade to prompt the emergence of additional blooms as the seasons progress.

► Cranesbills, coats of many colours: From top – Blushing Turtle, the bizarre-looking Catherine Deneuve (left) and Czakor with elegant anthers, the hugely popular Rozanne and Inverness, Derrick Cook and Geranium striatum, and the pink double flowers like fairies’ hats of Southcombe Double, below – the new catalogue. Pictures courtesy of Cranesbill Nursery

Dig up and divide established clumps in autumn and replant in sun or semi-shade – not deep shade as that could lead to a spread of mildew. A handful of bonemeal per plant will be appreciated at the same time.
If there’s one cautionary note, it’s simply that the choice of varieties is so vast you may lapse into a state of cranesbill confusion.
Still, the upside is it’s not a bad way to get confused!
► www.cranesbillnursery.com / email gary@cranesbillnursery.com / tel 01684 770733.

Heralds of spring supreme: Heavenly hellebores are out of this world!

M

AGICAL, mystical and magnificent. It’s a triple title for perhaps the loveliest wonder plant of winter – the hellebore.

They are anything but helluva boring! Indeed, during a recent stroll around a local garden centre I was rooted to the spot for a moment when I came face-to-blooms with a dozen or so potted beauties in the most bewitching burgundy red imaginable.

I swear I heard one of them plead: “Take me home.”

I had to have one. And so I did.

Its name – Leona, in the Winter Ballet series, with lush, shiny, evergreen foliage which complements the alluring, nodding blooms perfectly.

And the good news is that this variety doesn’t hang its head so obviously as most hellebores, so you get a real eyeful of golden stamens especially, with my plant, from a couple of heads that actually look up.

At 12in to 15in high, it’s a compact lady, unlike many other species that can soar to 2ft or 3ft.

I couldn’t help noticing a headline in Gardeners’ World presenter Carol Klein’s yellowing magazine feature from some years back. “You Can Never Have Too Many Hellebores” it read.

Agree entirely. Furthermore, it is not always necessary to shell out for new plants to increase your stock. Leave ‘em be and they’ll self-seed in their favoured semi-shaded home, promiscuously producing babies that seem to flower when the plants are still quite tiny.

As a bonus issue, you’ll never know what colours or colour combinations are in store until the petals unfold.

And, by heck, the range is almost limitless. You’ll find them in shades of purple, red, yellow, pink, white and green, as well as plenty of artistic patterning to enlighten the eyes.

Many of us became slightly familiar with hellebores – part of the huge buttercup family – years ago from admiring the Christmas rose, Helleborus niger, in pots or in our friends’ gardens.

It’s a myth that these bloom around Christmas Day, as very few do, and it’s certainly not a rose. Yet the species is certainly early to flaunt its snow-white cups, often tinged green or pink alongside dark, leathery leaves, not long after New Year’s Day.

Because the foliage stays put for months, hellebores make striking structural plants, even after the petals fade. 

It’s not a bad move to cut out any unsightly foliage in late April as new leaves start to sprout.

Occasionally large leaves will obscure the spectacle, so snip these off carefully, but not too close to the crown as that could lead to rot setting in.

Hellebores: How can you resist? Top – The gorgeous Winter Ballet Leona; centre left and right – two lovely casual seedlings which emerged in my garden; above – a magnificent display of hellebores are guarded by king and queen at Merry Harriers Garden Centre in North Devon.

Listing specific varieties is quite pointless as there are so many out there, even running into thousands.

As well as inspecting a wide choice of hellebores at your local garden centre, if you fail to find the colour you crave there is no shortage of online suppliers.

Among leading stockists are Ashwood Nursery in the West Midlands who are consummate hellebore producers and even employ their own breeder to further develop the Ashwood strain.

So do love and look after your hellebores as they really are heavenly heralds of spring. But also take note of that headline I mentioned a few paragraphs into my piece.

You have been warned!