Geranium x riversleaianum 'Russell Prichard'

About this cultivar:

Geranium x riversleaianum 'Russell Prichard' is a trailing herbaceous perennial, making a wide mat of neat, rounded, lobed grey-green leaves and rich magenta-pink flowers in summer. Parents apparently Geranium endressii x Geranium traversii. I've tried to embed a youtube video below!

The late great Christopher Lloyd said of this one "The old - but now defunct - Christchurch (Dorset) firm of Prichard is also celebrated in one of my favourite cranesbills, Geranium x riversleaianum (try saying that in a hurry) 'Russell Prichard'. A prostrate plant, it has a delightful way of exploring its neighbours by hoisting itself into them; also of surging forwards in a great pool of magenta, over paving or lawn (less popular with the mower). It flowers, non-stop, from late May until October."

• Position: Full sun, partial shade
• Soil: Almost any soil, grows well in Ballyrobert
• Flowers: May, June, July, August, September, October
• Other features: Grows well in Ballyrobert, Suitable for Container, Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit (RHS AGM)
• Hardiness: H4 - Hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5°C), Fully hardy - grows well in Ballyrobert!
• Habit: Trailing, bushy
• Foliage: Deciduous
• Height: 15 - 30 cm (0.5 - 1 ft)
• Spread: 15 - 90 cm (0.5 - 3 ft)
• Time to full growth: 2 to 5 years
• Plant type: Herbaceous Perennial
• Colour: Green, pink
• Goes well with: -

About this genus:

Geranium is a genus of 422 species of flowering plants found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, They come in  a variety of shapes and sizes and the five-petaled-flowers can be white, pink, purple or blue, often with distinctive veining. The genus name is derived from the Greek géranos meaning ‘crane’. The common name is‘cranesbill’. Why the crane reference? Well, some species in the Geranium genus have a distinctive mechanism for seed dispersal. This consists of a column which springs open when ripe and casts the seeds some distance.  The shape of the unsprung column looks like the bill of a crane- therefore cranesbill!

Geranium is often confused with its close cousin Pelargonium (florist geranium). The two plants were originally lumped into the one genus (genus Geranium), but in the 1780s, the genus Pelargonium was split from Geranium. However, by that time the common name "geranium" for the florists plants was part of the public vernacular and it stuck.

Geraniums are not as flashy as many perennials, but are getting more and more popualr again as newer cultivars become more floriferous and for longer. The attractive foliage of Geraniums, combined with their  blendable, butterfly-attracting, spring and summer flowers, make geraniums staples in the perennial garden. 

The genus geranium has long been recognized as one of the most durable and easy to grow perennials for the garden. They love sun or part shade and will grow in any soil that isn't waterlogged. 

How to use them? Oh, the list is endless and often depends on the specific geranium, its height, habit and colour - they are not just "ground cover" plants!