Hardy Geranium Group

Hardy Geranium Group
Honorary President: David Victor
Geranium ‘Ilja’
photo by kind permission of Birgitte Husted Bendtsen
Newsletter – Spring 2014
Officers of the Hardy Geranium Group
Chairman:
Margaret Stone
‘Brockamin’, Old Hills, Callow End, Worcs. WR2 4TQ
Tel: 01905 830370 e-mail: stone.brockamin@btinternet.com
Secretary & Treasurer:
Oliver Folkard
1, Baron’s Close, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8BE
Tel: 01328 851468 No e-mail
Seed Exchange Manager:
Tricia Fraser
16 Hallam Grange Croft, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S10 4BP
Tel: 01142 306508 e-mail: tricia.fraser@talktalk.net
Newsletter Editor:
Sue Clarke
‘Wrens Nest’, Wrenbury, Nantwich, Cheshire. CW5 8EQ
Tel. 01270 780704 e-mail: wrenburysue@gmail.com
Committee Member
Tricia Newton
Holly House, 87 Old Kennels Lane, Oliver's Battery, Winchester.
SO22 4JT.
Telephone: 01962 620291 email: snapdragon332001@yahoo.co.uk
The opinions expressed by the authors are their personal views and
not specifically endorsed by the HPS Hardy Geranium Group. The
Editor reserves the right to edit contributions as necessary.
Note from Sue (Editor) – geraniums with good foliage colour now
G. phaeum ‘Variegatum’, G. phaeum ‘Springtime’, G. phaeum
‘Samobor’, G. phaeum ‘Margaret Wilson’, G. x oxonianum ‘Spring
Fling’, G. x oxonianum ‘Katherine Adele’.
2
From the Chair
Margaret Stone
I write this in early March at the end (?) of a mild, wet winter.
Some of you will not have had too much rain but most of us
have experienced waterlogging and cannot walk on the
borders yet. I dug a trench around my macrorrhizum bed last
year to carry excess water away. However, I am happy not to
have had any snow and a few days only when the frost did not
melt in the shade. Geraniums still appear to be dormant but
close inspection shows signs of life. It is not an early spring: I
can remember one year when G. asphodeloides flowered in
February.
This year’s Geranium Day will focus on recent introductions.
Tim Fuller has agreed to let us meet at Plantsman’s
Preference and he will be our speaker. The nursery is wellstocked and I am sure all members will find a plant (or
several!) to excite them, especially those who come from a
different area. Plants do get passed around a local group but
sometimes are unknown further afield; the Plant Finder shows
this clearly. In the afternoon, we shall visit Bressingham
Gardens, where Jamie Blake, the curator, has kindly offered to
give us a guided tour. Bressingham has a long association
with geraniums and is particularly known for Alan Bloom’s G.
cinereum ‘Ballerina’. I do hope that many of you are able to
attend.
The HPS booklet ‘Hardy Geraniums’ is to be revised. Many
new plants have been introduced since it was last published
(2001); if there are any that you feel deserve to be included,
please let me know.
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Geranium Day Saturday 7th June 2013
Oliver Folkard
Geranium Day this year will take place at The Plantsman’s
Preference Nursery at South Lopham, near Diss, in Norfolk. Tim
Fuller runs the nursery and has an excellent selection of hardy
geraniums as well as grasses and a host of other perennials. He is
happy to take advance orders for plants for collection on the day. A
map is available at www.plantpref.co.uk or phone Tim Fuller on
07799 855559.
Registration starts at 9.30 am with a brief AGM at 10.00 am followed
by a talk by Tim Fuller which will include recent plant introductions.
There will also be the usual plant raffle and, of course, plant sale.
Please make your own arrangements for lunch, after which there will
be a tour of nearby Bressingham Gardens where we will be shown
around by Jaime Blake.
The cost of the day is £10 for HGG members and £15 for nonmembers (includes membership). This also includes refreshment in
the morning and the visit to Bressingham Gardens. It looks like
being a very good day and we look forward to seeing everyone, as
well as interesting plants.
Please use the slip enclosed with this Newsletter to make your
booking, enclosing a cheque for the appropriate amount made out to
‘Hardy Geranium Group’.
The Plantsman’s Preference, South Lopham, Diss, Norfolk, IP22
2LW
9.30 am
Registration and look around the Nursery
10.00 am
AGM
10.40 am
Coffee
11.00 am
Tim Fuller Recent Geranium Introductions
12.00 am
Raffle
Plant Sale (Please bring a plant or two)
Lunch (Bring your own; tickets do not include
lunch or afternoon tea.)
Further time to look at the Nursery.
2.00 pm
Arrive at Bressingham Gardens for a guided tour.
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Subscriptions 2014
Oliver Folkard
Thank you for your subscriptions for this year. There is a reminder
with this Newsletter for any who have not yet renewed. Members
who have not renewed by 1st June will be deemed to have
terminated their membership of the Hardy Geranium Group. The
current rates are £5 for UK members and £7 for overseas members.
If you wish to pay by standing order, this is a convenient method of
payment. To set up a standing order you will need to know that the
Group banks with HSBC and that our Sort Code is 40-41-07 and our
Account Number 11881469.
Notes from Hexham
Robin Moss
First a correction to an error in the last edition: G. sylvaticum ‘Master
Niall Lawson” (spelt with two ‘L’s’). My daughter would be horrified
to see the mistake, so I promised myself to rectify it at the earliest
opportunity.
As usual at this time of the year, there is little to do garden-wise so
seed cleaning and sowing are the enforced priorities. The seed is all
sown this year - in trays rather than pots to see if this increases
germination. Last year was a magnificent year for germination:
virtually everything germinated, with the exception of some of the
packets I had from the Group’s seed distribution (even the waste
from cleaning the seed produced a whole tray of plants!!). This year
I am awaiting the flowering of my seed grown plants, to see what
emerges, none of the transplanted seedlings managing to flower in
the year of sowing. Whether the exceptional germination owed much
to vernalisation (i.e exposure to frosts), I am not sure but the results
were excellent. I have left this year’s seed outside but so far there
has been little, if any, frost, just continual rain! There is danger of
the seed rotting in the trays; I am at the point of moving it indoors so
watch this space.
5
Amongst the most beautiful plants I have had in the garden for some
years, is a clump of a hybrid gymnocaulon x platypetalum. I am
certain that this originated from material I had from Alan Bremner,
who certainly made this cross. Several nurseries sold this plant
under this hybrid description (without a cultivar name) and I always
assumed it was from the same source – Bremner material that found
its way into nurseries, something that happened with several of his
plants. For example, ‘Solitaire’, before it was named, was sold with
the parental hybrid name. However, chatting to Tim Fuller of
Plantsman’s Preference, he showed me the same plant and said
how much he liked it. It has the most intense dark blackish blue
colour with really heavy black veining. He had always assumed it
came from Bill Baker but David Victor would neither confirm nor
deny this. Bill Baker’s material had allegedly not come from Alan
Bremner. Tim and I both think the plant should be named. I can
now report that, having debated the issue, we have named the plant
‘Blue Thunder’. Anyone with further information should contact
either Tim or myself.
Now for some thoughts that originate from the news that the RHS
announced that its centennial plant was to be geranium ‘Rozanne’ –
the wonderful wallichianum hybrid. It is of course very gratifying that
a geranium should be given that honour, especially as it is such a
fine plant. It has sold by the hundreds of thousands both here and
around the world. It has been followed by many other wallichianums
and wallichianum hybrids. Prior to ‘Rozannne’, virtually the only
wallichianum you could buy was ‘Buxton’s Variety’ – though if you
were lucky you could obtain the red flowered ‘Syabru’ or Alan
Bremner’s hybrid ‘Nora Bremner’. Now we have ‘Havanna Blues’,
‘Crystal Lake’, ‘Sylvia’s Surprise’, ‘Rise and Shine’ , ‘Rosita’, ‘Chris’,
‘Rosie’, ‘Pink Buxton’, ‘Rainbow’, ‘Pink Penny’, ‘Lilac Ice’, ‘Blue
Sunrise’, ‘Elworthy Eye Catcher’, ‘Sweet Heidi’, etc. The moral
being two fold: firstly nothing succeeds like success and secondly
that the commercial plant world is as much dominated by fashion as
certain other sections of our economy. It is not that long ago that the
commercial trade flooded the market with cinereum varieties and
hybrids – many of which have either disappeared (both from the
marketplace and the garden!), or are rarely offered for sale. The
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plant industry has adapted to the retail and fashion world dogmas of
short shelf life and to the constant need to offer fresh novelties.
However, there are several other points of interest to be taken from
the history of ‘Rozanne’ – especially for those of you who may be
interested in introducing a plant commercially. Firstly, ‘Rozanne’
took many years to get to the market. This is not unusual and is in
fact more the norm in the commercial plant world. By the time a
plant
has
been
given
to
an
interested
plant
developer/agent/wholesaler, has been grown on, grown in various
different locations, been examined by the developers, shown to
interested parties from around the world, been put into micropropagation (which may or may not be initially, or indeed ever,
successful), been checked for viruses, had viruses removed, put into
mass production, the plants from such grown on and matured,
marketing and other sales material produced, shown at the grand
plant events, such as Chelsea, you could be talking of easily ten to a
dozen years. This is not uncommon. So please do not bank on an
early cheque to place in your bank account. It is an extremely
lengthy, time consuming and frustrating business.
Secondly, the rewards, in terms of royalties, may not be very large –
‘Rozanne’ being an exception rather than the rule, given the sheer
volume it has sold in. Most new plants will never sell in such
quantities –far, far from it- and will not enjoy the market penetration
and longevity that plant has. Royalties are measured in pennies per
plant and vary enormously, often towards the lower end of the scale
of generosity. Whatever royalties there are will probably have to be
shared with an intermediary plant agent, the wholesaler and a
percentage also given to any agency that actually collects the
royalty.
Any royalties will also have deducted from them
contributions to the costs of plant protection (i.e to prevent other non
licensed growers from growing and selling your plant) and perhaps
even a contribution to marketing costs. Different markets (e.g. the
UK, the USA, Europe, Australia, Japan) have different royalty rates –
usually lower than the domestic rate. No, you will not get rich quick
on plant royalties!!
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The commercial plant world is a nightmare to deal with – ask anyone
who has ventured there. In many instances you might just as well
give the plant to a local or specialist nursery, name it and have it
introduced, getting nothing back except the pleasure of having a
plant you have found introduced and given to the outside world. No
the streets of the plant world are not lined with ‘Rozanne’s or gold.
Be warned.
The Geraniaceae Group
David Victor
The Geraniaceae Group recently created a discussion forum for
people who are interested in the geranium family, the Geraniaceae.
Access to this site is not limited to members of the Geraniaceae
Group, but to anyone who wishes to learn more about these plants.
While the group is primarily concerned with species plants, members
of the forum are welcome to discuss hybrids or selections if they
wish. If you are interested, go to www.geraniaceae-groupforum.com and sign up. We look forward to you joining us.
David is currently working on updating the Geranium Cultivar
Register and hopes it will be available later this year.
Seed Exchange Report 2013-14
Tricia Fraser
Summer 2013 was much better weather-wise than 2012 so I was
convinced there would be plenty of seed donors sending me seed.
Alas this was not the case – only 7 donors and much less seed sent.
Consequently there was a reduced seed list of just 53 taxa and 34
different species. I hope to run the exchange again this year but I do
need seed for it to succeed! Please consider sending in even a small
amount. Without a friend here in Sheffield giving me her donation of
one packet of seed, we would not have G. kishtvariense on the list at
all so it really is a case of every little helps.
As well as donations being fewer than in 2012, requests were also
down a little, with 33 members requesting seed, compared to 40 in
2012. Seed is still popular though so please help keep the seed
exchange going by sending in seed.
8
2013
Seed
requests
donors
Taxa
Geranium
species
Erodium
species
Total
packets
sent out
Seed Exchange Statistics 2004-2013
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
2006
2005
2004
34
7
53
40
8
88
39
8
72
36
5
73
40
7
101
11
8
55
25
12
54
79
18
97
21
125
138
33
34
33
32
33
24
20
43
49
62
0
1
4
2
3
2
3
5
7
7
202
267
236
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Spare seed on offer
Tricia Fraser
There is spare seed available and this year I am sending out a list
for members to tick to request seed. Ask for as many packets as you
like as it’s better to have it sent to members than thrown away.
If you would like more seed please send me a stamped addressed
envelope (UK members) or email me your requests (overseas
members).
Newer geraniums from the Continent
Birgitte Husted Bendtsen
My book ”Gardening with Hardy Geraniums” was published in
England in 2005, having already been published in Denmark in
2003.When, some years later, I was ready to do a revised edition of
the book a great many more new geraniums had been introduced.
The new edition was published in Danish in 2012 and it contains
around 150 more geraniums than the first edition. This article
features a few of these newer geraniums. I have chosen cultivars
from the Continent only as many of the English ones have been
mentioned in the HGGN.
G. ‘Deux Fleurs’ is from Belgium and was introduced by Jan Spruyt.
I obtained the plant from him in spring 2011 so that it could be
9
featured in the new book - Jan did not introduce it until the autumn
that year. He kindly wrote the history of the plant for me:“This vigorous growing new Geranium (5-6/m²) - 30-35cm - was a
gift of Ivan Louette, the breeder of geranium 'Terre Franche' (the
place were he grew up) and 'Phillippe Vapelle’ (his grand father) and
Geranium psilostemon 'Ivan' (Louette), to me in about 1995. During
all this time I never saw 1 seed on it. The leaves are medium green
turning orange red!!! in autumn and much more shiny than the pure
sanguineum varieties; Instead of 1 flower like all pure sanguineum
varieties, this one mostly (not always) has 2 flowers on its
flowerstem. The big flowers are reddish pink and aren't covering
totally the nice leaves (about 30% covering)”.
As the name “Deux Fleurs” means “Two Flowers”, it is an
appropriate cultivar name for this geranium, which I have become
very fond of. The diameter of the flowers is more than 5 cm. Jan
considers G. ‘Deux Fleurs’ to be the hybrid: G. sanguineum x G. x
oxonianum.
G. sanguineum is responsible for another superb hybrid, G. ‘Light
Dilys’. It occurred as a sport of G. ‘Dilys’ (G. sanguineum x G.
procurrens) at the Dutch nursery of Marco van Noort around 2003. It
is like a pale pink version of Alan Bremner’s ‘Dilys’. Like the latter, G.
‘Light Dilys’ is very valuable for its late flowering. Late autumn 2013
it was still in full flower.
G. ‘Catherine Deneuve’
G. himalayense 'Die Sensation'
photos by kind permission of Birgitte Husted Bendtsen
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G. ‘Deux Fleurs’
G. phaeum 'Mojito'
A cultivar of G. pratense, named ‘Ilja’, is also connected with the
Netherlands. While I was doing the book I made several vain
attempts to trace this cultivar. As I am very curious, it annoyed me
that I didn’t know the story about this pretty cultivar with pale lilac
flowers veined purple. However, one day, some months after the
book was published, I got an email from a Dutch lady named Ilja
Smit-Kroon, who wanted to buy the book. Bingo! The mystery was
solved: it turned out that the cultivar was named after her. Ilja
informed me that in the past this plant was incorrectly named G.
maximowiczii. Seeing the error, a friend of Ilja, the famous Belgian
nurseryman Maurice Vergote, renamed the plant around 20 years
ago. Ilja wrote:
“I didn't know which Geranium was named after me so, two years
ago, I bought two plants with the name of 'Ilja' in Belgium by the
neighbour breeder of Maurice, Thierry van Paemel (Helleborus
nursery Het Wilgenbroek). Then I saw the plant again after so many
years and I remembered the story. G.pratense 'Ilja' is growing now
through the shrubs in my garden.” (see front cover)
From Belgium and The Netherlands we move on to France, to the
nurseryman Thierry Delabroye, mostly known for Helleborus and
Heuchera. However he breeds geraniums too. A lovely hybrid (my
best guess is G. x oxonianum f. thurstonianum x G. psilostemon) is
named after a customer of his, the famous actress Catherine
11
Deneuve. G. ‘Catherine Deneuve’PBR looks much like G. ‘Farncombe
Cerise Star’; both have bold flowers resembling shocking pink
spiders! The latter is not a good doer with me, however G.
‘Catherine Deneuve’PBR has proved to be very vigorous in my
garden. It was introduced in 2010/2011.
Another cultivar of Thierry’s, showing more subdued colours is G.
phaeum ‘Mojito’, which is a seedling from G. phaeum ‘Margaret
Wilson’. Thierry told me that its lovely pale green striped leaves,
inherited from the parent, gave rise to the cultivar name, as the
colour of the foliage is just the same as the drink Mojito.
Finally, I’ll mention a new German cultivar of G. himalayense. It
rivals even ’Derrick Cook’ and ‘Baby Blue’ in flower size, thus it is
aptly named ’Die Sensation’! It originates at the nursery of Andreas
Kirschenlohr, who wrote in an email to me in spring 2011 that G.
himalayense ’Die Sensation’ is a mutant of the old cultivar
’Gravetye’. It has the same flower colour as the latter but is more
vigorous. Mr Kirschenlohr also wrote that the flowers of ’Die
Sensation’ are bigger than those of ‘Gravetye’ - up to 5 cm. As my
specimen of ‘Die Sensation’ had some flowers with a diameter of 6.7
cm, he certainly did not exaggerate!
On my website (www.birgittehustedbendtsen.dk) one can see more
geraniums, in Danish “storkenæb”, and on my facebook page I
translate the text about the geraniums into English.
Anorak plants?
Jacqueline Aviolet
A few years ago a lot of us met at RHS Wisley for an all day hardy
geranium trials event; some of us had donated much prized
specimens. In a lecture room, a couple of semi-famous people stood
up and teased us all about being anoraks. At the time I thought it
was a bit cheeky but for years had been wondering what to call
myself.
I spoke to a lady who had acquired some geraniums from me early
last year and she was worried about this year’s rainfall. On one
hand I was just about to sell some plants to ever-enthusiatic plants
people and on the other I needed to get across the information to
assure her (and the over-hearing waiting customers) that her
12
geraniums were very very hardy. Thinking that her worrying may put
off the new customers waiting, I said....
'No don't worry they'll be all right'
Lady 'But this weather the garden's so wet'
Me 'Don't walk on the ground'
Lady 'Ground?'
Me 'Yes the soil, the earth, the mud'
Lady 'What about the water?'
Me 'Don't walk on the mud or your garden; don't move anything;
leave it all alone and the water will naturally drain away.’
Lady 'What if it doesn't?'
Me 'It will'
Lady 'But what?’
Me 'No'
Lady (interrupting) 'But wha?
Me (interrupting) 'It will'
Lady (interrupting) 'But ww?
Me (interrupting) 'Drain'
Lady (interrupting) 'But'
Me (interrupting) 'Away'
Lady 'Are you sure?'
Me 'Mum I must serve these customers'
New customer 'Are these geraniums hardy? My gardens a bit wet!!
In 25 years of running my nursery, I have grown hardy geraniums in
all weathers and before that on a Harry Dodson tv
programme, where he was waiting to plant out and wouldn't until the
rain had drained. I have followed that rule ever since. My previous
garden of geraniums, which was once under water for 5 months or
so and in hot weather produced 4 inch cracks, exhausted worrying
conditions. I never watered in hot weather, nor walked on in wet; just
waited until it all had settled.
The last 4 years we have had snow. In 2001, I had introduced two
Geraniums. One I named G. 'Sandra'; it had evergreen leaves,
initially olive green deepening to chocolate, and white flowers. G
'Emily' has evergreen foliage that starts each season as olive green
becoming softer brown; the flowers are soft pink. Both are long
flowering. Two years ago I was really worried in the cold snowy
13
days: it looked as though I had lost both varieties. We had never
experienced year on year snow and they, like many plants recently
introduced, had never been tested in such cold weather. Some of
them planted on a bank and in display stock pots had all but
vanished. I looked but didn't touch nor walk near, just quietly
sighed but was close to tears. Amazingly they had adjusted and
became dormant to survive, changing their way of growing. They regrew and last year did the same thing, dying back to awaken in late
February. Plants constantly amaze me. How did they know this
year’s weather as they are all as evergreen as 5 years ago?
I met up with a group of geranium friends and another friend of ours
came in with a large clump of a new geranium variety. Rich large
dark deep cut leaves with the cuts appearing to be at right angles.
We were intrigued; we were so happy - a new variety, a new type of
geranium. We rushed across the room almost sliding into him and
calling 'Nigel Nigel what is this new plant? Which variety is it? Oh
Nigel please tell us!'
Nigel said 'Oh no it's not a new geranium I just got the leaves
caught in the car door'.
To return to a back handed remark at Wisley, which I'm sure was
spoken in jest. I am worrying about plants I have had for years, in
awe of nature’s work and excited about possible new varieties. Yes,
I love my hardy geraniums, loose and lived in, accommodating,
blooming and tolerating all weathers, just like my favourite outdoor
attire, nay overcoat; surely an anorak!
Jacqueline Aviolet, Rosie's Garden Plants
Talks, mail order & occasional shows
01622 715777 jcaviolet@aol.com
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The Name Game
John Beaulieu
The more I read about hardy geraniums, the more I become
fascinated with their names. This interest can be in many forms,
from wondering about the people that hardy geraniums are named
after, to really strange names and how and why they were chosen. It
is easy enough to figure out why most of the botanical species
names were chosen because they describe the plant or where it is
from. Common names, on the other hand, can really make you
wonder. Sometimes we can even be persuaded to purchase a plant
because of its name.
There is no question that hardy geraniums themselves can be very
addictive plants to collect but I also found that it was the plant names
themselves that in some cases really pushed me along on the path
of hardy geranium study. (“Study” sounds so much better than
addiction). When I first started to collect new varieties, one of my
first plants was a cultivar of our own native North American
Geranium maculatum called ‘Chatto’. There is, of course, no need to
explain to UK members who Beth Chatto is but, at the time, I had no
clue who this famous plantswoman was. Shortly after acquiring this
lovely light pink flowered form, which bears her name, I was
browsing through the gardening section of a favourite used book
store and came across a book called ‘Beth Chatto’s Gravel
Garden’. I started thinking – could this be the person that my new
plant was named after? Of course it was and I eventually found
several other Chatto books, including her very interesting ‘Beth
Chatto’s Garden Notebook’, a diary-like account of her nursery at
Elmstead Market, north east of London. All this interesting reading
spurred on by a plant name! (see back cover for photographs).
I also saw this plant listed as both ‘Chatto’ and ‘Beth Chatto’, so I
wrote to Beth Chatto to find out which was correct. It turns out that
they too were wondering who gave this selection the name. Well, it
was David Victor, who noticed that the plant was often referred to as
‘Chatto’s Form’ as well, and ‘form’ is not acceptable by the
nomenclature rules. He corrected it to Geranium maculatum ‘Beth
Chatto’. This selection appears to be more clump forming than the
15
species. By the way, Mrs. Chatto is now 90 and still prepares plant
lists for the nursery.
The interesting thing about the plant named ‘Beth Chatto’ is that it is
not the same selection that was actually grown and sold at Beth
Chatto Gardens back in the 1980s. The Garden and Nursery
Director, David Ward, tells me that their plant was a cool lilac with
upright habit as described on page 198 of Beth’s ‘The Shade
Garden’ previously published as ‘Beth Chatto’s Woodland Garden’.
David Ward has supplied us with a photo of that plant.
In 2010, I came across a very well written booklet called ‘My
Experience Growing Hardy Geraniums’ by Phoebe Noble. I was
surprised to learn that she was a Canadian whose garden was
located near Victoria, on Vancouver Island. I connected the name to
a photo I had seen in the Penelope Hobhouse book called ‘Flower
Gardens’, showing masses of Geranium macrorrhizum as ground
cover under the trees in Phoebe’s orchard. I so much enjoyed
Phoebe’s writing style and comments in her own booklet that I tried
to lookup a way to contact her. Unfortunately, what I found was an In
Memoriam notice that Phoebe Noble had passed away on July 31,
2010.There were two oxonianums that appeared in Phoebe’s
garden, that Elke and Ken Knechtel of Rainforest Gardens, BC (no
longer operating), had been testing for several years. The clear
lipstick pink plant had been named ‘Phoebe Noble’ and the lovely
pastel pink, almost white, one was named ‘Anmore’, after the
Knechtel’s first nursery. These plants were also reviewed by
Axeltree Nursery, which explains why the plant ‘Phoebe Noble’
became popular in England. So far they have proved impossible for
me to find back here in Canada. Bendtsen shows a ‘Phoebe’s Blush’
in her book, but I have no idea how that oxonianum relates back to
Phoebe’s plants.
I always check out the bibliography in the back of my hardy
geranium books, which usually leads me to even more books. I
noticed many listings for ‘The Wild Garden’ by William Robinson
(published in 1870), a book that revolutionized nineteenth century
gardening practices in Ireland and Britain. Robinson advocated a
naturalistc approach when using hardy perennials for self16
perpetuating displays. I learned that Robinson took up residence at
Gravetye Manor and now I knew where the name of my Geranium
himalayence ‘Gravetye’ came from. I learned of other early garden
authors such as E.A. Bowles (1865-1954), and A.T. Johnson, who
died in 1956. Both of these authors mentioned hardy geraniums in
their writings and of course I now discovered the connection to
Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’. Although not directly responsible for this
plant, A.T. Johnson was growing a G. pratense cultivar called ‘Silver
Queen’, and seeds of this were given to a Dutch nurseryman who
then crossed one of the resulting seedlings with G. himalayense,
producing the well-known ‘Johnson’s Blue’. Johnson lived in North
Wales close to his friend E.C. Buxton, after whom the G.
wallichianum ‘Buxton’s Variety’ (also known as ‘Buxton’s Blue’) is
named. It is always fun to discover something about the people that
hardy geraniums are named after. Not long ago, in an issue of ‘The
Hardy Plant’, Roy Lancaster had a photo and mention of Amy
Doncaster, who had a beautiful deep blue G. sylvaticum with a white
eye named after her. Dan Hinkley, in his book, ‘The Explorer’s
Garden’ (another very good read), also wrote of his memories of
this well-known plantswoman who had selected this plant for its
striking colour.
A lovely hardy geranium that was new to me in 2011 and flowered
for the first time last fall, was a cross between G. procurrens and G.
sanguineum called ‘Dilys’. As is the usual case, the sanguineum
parent dominates the appearance of the plant but it creeped over
three feet under and around the fallen autumn leaves, blooming into
November. Dan Hinkley wrote that he grows it as much for the name
as for anything else. His friend and supurb plantswoman, Dilys
Davies (member of HPS), gardens in the Lake District. I am always
glad to see our own Hardy Geranium Group members such as
Robin Moss and Tricia Fraser explain who the people are when they
are reporting about new varieties named after friends or relatives.
We are all probably guilty of buying one or two plants purely
because of the name. My wife, Brenda, bought me ‘Espresso’
because of her favourite hot beverage. This G. maculatum cultivar
does have attractive coffee coloured foliage. Last year, I HAD to buy
‘Blushing Turtle’ because of the name and my interest in those
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shelled reptiles. It too turned out to be an attractive plant, again with
the sanguineum parent being dominant, but the flower colour is
toned down to an attractive pink marked by darker veins,
presumably a result of the oxonianum parent.
Of course, not all names are serious and even Alan Bremner admits
to having fun with names. In an article in ‘The Plantsman’, he
explained about the naming of ‘Sabani Blue’. The label (G. ibericum
x G. libani} was faded or smudged and it looked like Sabani, so the
plant got this made-up name. When he needed a name for the more
compact clone of the established ‘Sirak’, Alan suggested the name
‘Karis’ – which is sirak backwards!
No mention of strange names would be complete without listing that
cross between G. x oxonianum f. thurstonianum and G. psilostemon
called ‘Kanahitobanawa’. This plant gets the brilliant colour from
psilostemon and the narrow petals from thusrtonianum. They look
like bright red propellers and as a matter of fact a plant with similar
parentage IS called ‘Red Propellers’. In a plant list from Desirable
Plants nursery, they explain the name ‘Kanahitobanawa’ this way –
Our Plant, our daft name. We’re allowed to say that – you just have
to pronounce it!
HPS HARDY GERANIUM GROUP
RECEIPTS & PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED
31ST DECEMBER 2013
Notes on accounts (see next page)
(1)
(2)
(3)
In common with many other similar organisations (including the
HPS itself) the gentle decline in membership continues.
Geranium Day 2013 was free to members as agreed at a
previous AGM. Income from this event was limited to that from
Plant Sales and the Raffle and any non-members attending at
£10 each.
The costs of travel for the Committee were exceptional as two
meetings rather than one were held in the course of the year.
This was done so as to move the annual Committee meeting
from February to October, which gives more time to arrange
and publicise Geranium Day (as well as being a better time of
year for travel).
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(4)
(5)
The main expenses for Geranium Day were the speaker’s
travel and overnight accommodation and a fee payable to
Avondale Nurseries, who hosted the event.
For the second year in succession it became necessary to
transfer £500 from the Savings Account to the Current
th
Account. This was done on 25 October; the balance in the
Current Account stood at £490.24 at the end of the year.
HPS HARDY GERANIUM GROUP
RECEIPTS & PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED
31ST DECEMBER 2013
2012
2013
Receipts
£
Subscriptions (1)
618
561.00
2
Bank Interest
1.41
Geranium Day (2)
200.40
4
Donation
5.00
624
767.81
146
118
195
56
37
268
Payments
Spring Newsletter
Autumn Newsletter
Publicity/Printing/Postage
Stationery including Seedlist
Secretarial Sundries
Committee Travel (3)
Geranium Day (4)
820
-197
3249
-197
3052
550
2502
3052
Net Balance
292.87
218.11
57.58
42.60
30.41
386.08
298.93
1326.58
-558.77
Bank Account
Balance at 1st January
Balance for Year
Closing Balance at 31st December
HSBC Current Account
HSBC Savings Account (5)
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3052.84
-558.77
2494.07
490.24
2003.83
2494.07
The Geranium maculatum sold by Beth Chatto Gardens in the
1980s. Photo courtesy of Beth Chatto Gardens.
Geranium maculatum 'Beth Chatto'. Photo by John Beaulieu
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