Geranium himalayense 'Derrick Cook'

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Price:  £4.50 Notify me when this item is available Family:  Geraniaceae Main Season:  Summer Flower Colour:  White Leaf Colour:  Green Foliage:  Deciduous Position:  Sun Soil Type:  Ordinary, medium loam Height:  15cm to 30cm (6" to 12") Peat Free?  Not yet Hardiness Guide:  RHS H7 minimum at least -20C Pot Size:  9cm Availability:      None available at present. View our Pot Size guide:

The first white Geranium himalayense in cultivation. Robust plants freely bear large white flowers which take on a faint bluish tinge as they age, like one of those paints. 35cm.

When this was first made available many Geranium collectors couldn't quite believe it, some still can't!  The flowers are HUGE.  Growing just like other forms of Geranium himalayense, this makes low clumps that slowly spread to make ideal plants for the front of borders.  The leaves are a bit more divided on 'Derrick Cook' than other cultivars, often with a faint red tinge around the edges.  Flowers to 6cm in diameter, clean white with the pinkish-red veins rather like Geranium clarkei 'Kashmir White' but on a rather more robust plant.

There is some debate about whether 'Derrick Cook' really is a form of Geranium himaylense as it is distinct in some ways, maybe distinct enough to be elevated to species rank itself.  It also grows true from seed, though of course seedlings shouldn't be called 'Derrick Cook', they should only be labelled "ex. 'Derrick Cook'".  Either way, it doesn't matter for garden use, it is an excellent plant and a superb replacement for Geranium clarkei 'Kashmir White'.

Collected by Derrick Cook in Nepal in 1985 but didn't get distributed more widely until the early 2000s.