Geranium sanguineum Ankums Pride

The Geranium sanguineum 'Ankum's Pride' is a bloody perennial geranium that produces a multitude of large open and flat cup-shaped flowers, in magenta pink colour veined with dark purple, from June to September. By simply removing faded flowers, this plant forms a low-maintenance, robust, and very floriferous cushion-like ground cover, spreading year after year. Its finely divided green foliage turns red in autumn. It is a plant that tolerates sun, shade, and drought.

The Geranium sanguineum 'Ankum's Pride', also known as Crane's Beak, belongs to the Geraniaceae family. This cultivar is derived from the wild species Geranium sanguineum, native to Europe and Turkey. It has a rather slow growth and forms a spreading clump about 20 to 25 cm (8 to 10in) in height, sometimes more, and slowly spreads through its rhizomes in a 40 cm (16in) diameter or more mat. Its beautiful magenta pink flowers bloom from June to September in successive waves. The fruits are elongated with a long beak, resembling a crane's beak (hence its name). The foliage is semi-evergreen, turning various shades of red in autumn and winter. Its leaves are deeply divided, hairy, dark green, and measure between 5 and 10 cm (2 and 4in) in length.

In the wild, the Bloody Geranium is often found in rocky soils, but in the garden, it adapts to all types of soils and exposures. 'Ankum's Pride' gradually forms a spreading cushion and easily self-seeds, although not always faithfully. Unaffected by root competition, it is valuable in woodland areas, under the cover of bushes, even in dry soil. Plant it on difficult-to-access slopes, and it will slowly colonize the space. In rockeries or sunny borders, accompany it with thymes, carnations, sedums, or Artemisia alba 'Canescens'.