Geranium wlassovianum

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Price:  £4.50 Notify me when this item is available Family:  Geraniaceae Main Season:  Summer Flower Colour:  Purple Leaf Colour:  Brown/Purple/Red Foliage:  Deciduous Position:  Light/Part Shade Soil Type:  Ordinary, medium loam Height:  15cm to 30cm (6" to 12") Peat Free?  Yes Hardiness Guide:  RHS H7 minimum at least -20C Pot Size:  9cm Availability:      None available at present. View our Pot Size guide:

Colourful violet flowers from July on a compact plant. New leaves are deep pink with broad rounded lobes and colour well in autumn. Flowers all summer in moister soil in sun.

An unusual species worth growing for foliage as well as flower.  The new growth emerges very early in late winter (often February) and is a warm, coppery, bronze and unfortunately often gets frosted but always produces a second, or third, crop.  The leaves develop to a downy green and provide a good backdrop to the bright purplish flowers that are produced on stems up to 45cm long from late summer into autumn.

As the nights get cooler in autumn the foliage again turns colour with chades of purple, red, orange and yellow creeping in over a few weeks until the first hard frost knocks the plant back underground for the winter.

For ordinary soil in full sun, though it will take a little shade, Geranium wlassovianum is very hardy and seems to last a long time in the garden with little attention.  Totally deciduous, the old foliage and stems will usually disintigrate overwinter so you don't even have to cut it back!

From Asia.