Geranium pratense Laura

Geranium pratense 'Laura' is a beautiful improvement of the meadow cranesbill with double flowers, a variety that is floriferous, compact, and easy to control as it does not produce seeds. This perennial forms a beautiful mound of finely cut foliage and bears exquisite pure white and shiny double flowers for several weeks in summer. A lovely ground cover, it highlights borders and fills flower pots, planted in fertile and moist good garden soil, in sun or light shade.

Floriferous, generous, and easy to grow, perennial geraniums have everything to please. Unlike balcony geraniums (which are actually Pelargoniums), with which they are sometimes confused, they are perfectly hardy, at least down to -15°C (5°F) and therefore remain in the ground all winter.

They belong to the Geraniaceae family. Originally from Europe, Central Asia, and China, Geranium pratense is the origin of many cultivars with single or double flowers that are very easy to grow in any good garden soil.

The 'Laura' variety is a pleasant surprise, originating from a mix of meadow cranesbill seeds planted over 20 years ago in a private garden in Cheshire, England. The vigorous plant has a fairly dense habit, reaching an average height of 50cm (20in) with a similar width. Its sparkling white flowers are borne on branched stems. They are cup-shaped, composed of two rows of petals lightly veined with grey-green. Its remarkably abundant and perpetual flowering takes place from June-July to August-September, depending on the climate, with good regularity. The foliage is semi-evergreen to deciduous, composed of small polygonal, finely cut, greyish-green, pubescent leaves, measuring 20cm (8in) long. They appear almost along the entire length of the robust and hairy stems.

Easy to grow and not demanding in nature, this meadow cranesbill tolerates any ordinary soil that is not too dry, and its beauty would easily rival the best varieties of hellebores. In the garden, perennial geraniums can be planted almost anywhere: in rock gardens, in a woodland setting with wood anemones, ferns and woodrushes, near ground cover roses that they elegantly dress, as a border plant with other varieties of double-flowered geraniums, and even in large pots.