Geranium Brookside

The 'Brookside' geranium is a vigorous and hardy perennial. Johnson's Blue was thought to be perfect, but here comes a newcomer that could steal the show. More floriferous, its pretty light blue flowers with white centres are also larger and its habit is taller but just as dense. This hybrid blooms abundantly from late spring, all summer, and until September, with a break in August. The foliage forms a spreading clump, making for perfect ground cover that turns beautiful warm hues in autumn. Robust and easy to grow, it will be much appreciated in borders and beds, or in pots, always in the sun.

The 'Brookside' perennial geranium belongs to the Geraniaceae family. It is a hybrid resulting from cross-breeding between the meadow cranesbill (G.pratensis) and the highly floriferous G. clarkei 'Kashmir Purple'. It forms, in early spring, a rounded, spreading bush, 40 cm (16in) tall with a diameter of 60 cm (24in). The flowering, intense and generous, starts at the end of May and lasts until September if the weather is not too dry. If the summer is hot and dry, it will pause in August and resume in September. The flowers are countless, rather wide cups of intense blue, slightly veined with violet, with a small white centre. The foliage is deciduous, medium green, deeply cut on red stems. The foliage turns bright orange and red in autumn.

The 'Brookside' geranium can be used as a border plant in beds, but also at the base of modern roses to which it will add summer interest (especially pastel-coloured roses) by filling in around their base. It is suitable for natural gardens, woodlands or rockeries, as well as seaside gardens. It can be planted on slopes, but not excessively dry ones, or it can border a bed of easy-to-grow perennials such as Nepeta 'Six Hill Giant', heucheras, and Phlox paniculata. On the terrace, it grows very well in pots.