{"id":49,"date":"2007-04-17T09:17:29","date_gmt":"2007-04-17T17:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/garden\/?p=49"},"modified":"2015-11-24T07:33:25","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T15:33:25","slug":"double-geraniums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/double-geraniums\/","title":{"rendered":"Double Geraniums"},"content":{"rendered":"

DOUBLE GERANIUMS<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

In my garden this will be the Year of the Fluffy Flower.\u00a0 Ever since the first mail order catalogs arrived last December I have been mesmerized by the pictures of double-flowered varieties of hellebores, daylilies, primroses and Shasta daisies.\u00a0 My usual love of simplicity has gone south in favor of the pursuit of excess, and I have ordered plants accordingly.\u00a0 If summer ever comes this year, I will be awash in a sea of surplus petals.\u00a0 At the moment, I can’t think of a better fate.<\/font><\/p>\n

At the moment, I am hot on the trail of double hardy geraniums.\u00a0 These are not the big, fat red or pink or white annual geraniums that you put in pots to decorate your porch.\u00a0 Botanically speaking, those plants are actually pelargoniums, and while they are lovely in their own right, they are not hardy outdoors in cold winter climates.\u00a0 The hardy geraniums, on the other hand, are relatively low growers that scoff at winter cold and return each year.\u00a0 They are available in a range of colors and shades including white, pink rose, lavender, and blue purple.\u00a0 Some species are tolerant of partial shade while others are sun lovers.\u00a0 Interest in the hardy geraniums grows every year, as does the number of varieties available to American gardeners.\u00a0 This is a wonderful development, as many of the species and cultivars are versatile, beautiful and easy to grow. <\/font><\/p>\n

Most hardy geraniums are single-flowered varieties, with each flower having five petals.\u00a0 The doubles have two or three times that number and resemble small roses or double primroses.\u00a0 The beautiful, deeply dissected or cut foliage that is characteristic of hardy geraniums remains the same.\u00a0 There are not many double varieties available, which is probably a good thing, because in my current state of fluffy flower mania I would probably bankrupt myself by buying them all.<\/font><\/p>\n

The top of my microwave is currently home to an infant Geranium pratense ‘Double Jewel.\u00a0 I potted it up when it arrived as a dormant root and now it awaits the return of seasonable temperatures before making its outdoor debut.\u00a0 When it blooms, it will have white, double-petaled flowers with purple centers.\u00a0 The catalog copy characterizes the blooms as being reminiscent of small clematis blossoms.<\/font><\/p>\n

Geranium pratense is also known as Meadow Cranesbill.\u00a0 Native to meadows and open fields in parts of Europe and Asia, it has been in cultivation for at least five hundred years and in use for over a thousand years.\u00a0 In its natural state, G. pratense is blue-purple, so it is no surprise that another double form, G. pratense Summer Skies, sometimes also known as Gernic, is a soft bluish pink.\u00a0 Both Double Jewel and Summer Skies prefer partial shade, except in the northernmost parts of the United and Europe, where they will flourish in full sun.<\/font><\/p>\n

Summer Skies was introduced in the United States in 1997 by the English plant firm, Blooms of Bressingham.\u00a0 Some sources suggest that it is actually a hybrid of G. pratense and another species, Geranium himalayense plenum.\u00a0 Whatever its parentage, Summer Skies reblooms several times throughout the growing season.\u00a0 Like other double-flowered cultivars, the plants are sterile, so they do not spread aggressively.<\/font><\/p>\n

Summer Skies should land on my doorstep in the next week or so, and find its way into the garden shortly thereafter.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

I will also try Geranium himalayense Birch’s Double, which has rose-pink double blossoms.\u00a0 This is not my first go-around with Birch’s Double.\u00a0 I tried it a few years ago, and it died.\u00a0 However, killing something once proves nothing.\u00a0 I subscribe to the time-tested idea that only by killing a particular plant three times can you assure yourself that you shouldn’t grow it at all.<\/font><\/p>\n

While there are not many double-flowered hardy geraniums at large in the world, there are more of them in England than there are here.\u00a0 This is probably because the English have loved and cultivated the genus much longer than those of us who live on this side of the pond.\u00a0 I predict that as time goes on, more and more gardeners will learn to love the doubles for the excellent, long-lasting flower show that they provide.\u00a0 The clumps also grow larger gradually and can be divided to yield more plants.<\/font><\/p>\n

Hardy geraniums, including the doubles, make lovely flowering ground covers.\u00a0 But they are highly addictive, so be warned.\u00a0 Buying one double-flowered variety may lead you to want all kinds of hardy geraniums and at the present time there is no cure for geranium addiction.<\/font><\/p>\n

Double Jewel is available from Wayside Gardens, but is currently sold out.\u00a0 Check for fall 2007 availability by contacting Wayside at 1 Garden Lane, Hodges, SC, 29695, (800) 213-0379, www.waysidegardens.com<\/a> (Free Catalog).\u00a0 Summer Skies is available from Klehm’s Song Sparrow Farm, Song Sparrow Perennial Farm, 13101 E. Rye Road, Avalon, Wisconsin 53505, (800) 553-3715, www.songsparrow.com<\/font><\/a> (Free Catalog).\u00a0 Birch’s Double is available from Van Bourgondien, but is currently sold out.\u00a0 Check for late spring or fall 2007 availability by contacting them at P.O. Box 2000, Virginia Beach, VA 23450, (800) 622-9959, www.dutchbulbs.com<\/font><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DOUBLE GERANIUMS In my garden this will be the Year of the Fluffy Flower.\u00a0 Ever since the first mail order catalogs arrived last December I have been mesmerized by the pictures of double-flowered varieties of hellebores, daylilies, primroses and Shasta daisies.\u00a0 My usual love of simplicity has gone south in favor of the pursuit of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring","category-summer","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1729,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions\/1729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}