Common Name: hardy geranium
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Geraniaceae
Zone: 5 to 7
Height: 0.50 to 1.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 1.50 feet
Bloom Time: April to June
Bloom Description: Magenta pink
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Medium
Flower: Showy
Attracts: Butterflies
Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Drought, Dry Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil
Culture
Grow in average, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Tolerates some drought, but prefers regular and even moisture (particularly in hot summer climates) in organically rich, humusy soils with good drainage. Best grown in full sun in northern parts of its growing range, but with some afternoon part shade protection in the St. Louis area. If flowering stops and/or plant foliage depreciates in the heat of the summer, plants may be cut back to rejuvenate, shape and/or encourage additional bloom. Side stems may be removed or trimmed at any time to control spread. Cultivars do not reliably come true from seed.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Geranium cinereum is a low-mounded, hardy geranium that is native to the Pyrenees Mountains. It typically grows to 6” tall and features cup-shaped white to pink flowers with dark petal veins and deeply-lobed gray-green basal leaves. It is often commonly called gray leaf geranium because of the silver-gray hues of its attractive foliage.
Genus name comes from the Greek word geranos meaning crane in reference to the fruit which purportedly resembles the head and beak of a crane.
Specific epithet means ash-colored.
'Janette' features rich magenta pink flowers (1" diameter) with black stamens. Flowers appear in spring for a period of 6-7 weeks, with a possible sparse rebloom occurring in fall. Dark green to grayish-green leaves have 5-7 wedge-shaped lobes.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Ground cover or edger. Beds, border fronts, rock gardens or cottage gardens.