code: 875
This new-on-the-scene plant
Family: Geraniaceae
Plant Classification: Hardy perennial
Minimum Height: 30 cm
Maximum Height: 45 cm
Packet Content(approx.): 10+
(Syn. Geranium ‘Orchid-Blue’). This new-on-the-scene plant, often confused with the very similar Geranium lanuginosum, produces flowers of a rarely seen shade of pure campanula blue, on low brittle hairy stems. Wonderful in rich damp soil.
Sowing advice:
For best results, sow seeds immediately onto a good soil-based compost. Cover the seeds with fine grit or compost to approximately their own depth. They can be sown at any time, and germination can sometimes be quicker if kept at 15 to 20 degrees C. However, we sow most seeds in an unheated greenhouse and wait for natural germination as many seeds have built-in dormancy mechanisms, and often wait for spring before emerging regardless of when they are sown.
Flower:
Regular (actinomorphic), 15–20 mm (0.6–0.8 in.) wide. Petals 5, purple, dark-veined, with notched tips. Sepals 5, dark-veined, hairy, bristle-tipped, spreading, almost same length as petals, growing significantly in fruiting stage. Stamens 10, filaments hairy. Gynoecium composed of 5 fused carpels. Flowers axillary in pairs or terminating stem.
Fruit:
5-parted schizocarp, tip beak-like, curling in a roll as it ripens. Mericarps glossy, hairy.
Habitat:
Burned places, controlled burning areas, base of campfire sites, logging clearings, forest roadsides, waste ground, gardens.
