No 25 - Perfect perennials for cottage gardens - pt 2

Next in my feast of pinky purpley loveliness is no 25 on my list, Perennial Geranium.

There are literally hundreds of variants in this family and I am determined to have as many as possible. My collection isn't doing badly so far (most of my geraniums have been gleaned from family and friends so I've tried to identify them for you, but don't take it as gospel):

Geranium sanguieum, this one is a creeper and loves to wander through other things. This year this Geranium flowered pretty much from last April right through - it only paused when I chopped it back on a couple of occasions.

'Blue blood' This is more of a clump forming variety, with large, papery flowers about 4cm across.

 'Cranesbill' Geranium This is close to the wild geranium and is low growing with taller stalks of small flowers above.

Pencilled Cranesbill. Beautifully marked petals and clump forming.

Kashmir White. Delicately streaked and large flowered, this one also has lovely divided leaves.

The drooping, delicate buds of the Kashmir White.

This is a Geranium I inherited with the garden and I have struggled to identify it. It creates huge mounds of foliage and the flowers appear both pale and dark pink. It does flower endlessly but it looks very untidy a lot of the time and totally takes over. Quite a lot of it has found it's way onto my compost heap (and not in a good way)!

Geranium nodosum. This prefers a more shady position and has a smaller though vibrant flower and chunkier leaves. (The flower in the pic has just been beaten to a pulp by the rain, usually it looks less bedraggled!)

This is a Geranium that came from my Mum which has clusters of bright small flowers that last really well and bob around in the sun beautifully.

Geranium and Heuchera leaves intermingling.

Geranium leaves are almost as varied as the flowers, and also vary in colour.

This one is Geranium pratense Black beauty, it's not flowering yet but has lavender blue flowers and gorgeous dark leaves.

Geranium flowers range from about 1cm across to nearly 4cm, come in all shades of pink, blue and purple. They are all easy to grow and spread if they are happy. They are gorgeous at this time of year but can become a bit tatty in the summer when some people recommend chopping them back so that they reshoot with new leaves. Some may also have a second flush of flowers.
My next target Geranium (that sounds a bit un-gardener-ish!) is a Phaeum which is tall and has very dark reddish, small flowers. I had lots in my London garden but I don't think I brought any west with me - can't think why, I brought a bit of almost everything else!