Plant Overview
Excellent ground cover plant with masses of large, dark-veined, lavender-blue flowers that fade to pearl grey as they mature.
Awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
Flowers from May to end of August. Attractive to bees.
Perfect for a cottage garden or informal planting. Cut plants back after flowering to encourage a second flush of blooms.
Height and Spread: 30 x 60cm
Myth and Legend
Apparently, the Prophet Mohammed, whilst resting beside a stream, decided to wash his shirt in the water. Having done so, he spread his shirt out to dry on a bed of mallows that grew close by and then lay down and slept. As he slept, a miraculous trasnformation occurred. First the mallows blushed with pleasure at having the opportunity to serve the great man. Then, by the time he awoke, the mallows had all been transformed into cranesbills.
Traditionally, cranesbills offer protection against snakes and serpents. Hence the following country rhyme:
Snakes will not go
Where geraniums grow.
Dreaming of geraniums is meant to be a sign that you need not worry about a recent quarrel, as it meant nothing and will soon be forgotten.
Common name(s): Cranesbill
Photo: Kor!An (Андрей Корзун), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
