Alpine geranium
Erodium reichardii ·
A tight, flat cushion of tiny, scalloped leaves, dotted all summer with small white or pink flowers veined in rose.
- Size
- 3 in tall, 10 in wide
- Zones
- 7 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late May to early September
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around alpine geranium
The planner designed this bed around alpine geranium when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 7, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 721 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why alpine geranium stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Alpine geranium × 25, white
- 2 Sea thrift × 10, pink
- 3 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 5, tan
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 5, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Blanket flower 'Burgundy' × 3, red
- 7 Pineapple lily × 2, purple
- 8 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 2, purple
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are globes, spires and daisies. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- A classic partner for sea thrift. Both are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- The only white. White sits between stronger colours and calms them.
Why here
- Under the taller plants. It runs back between them as living mulch: there its job is to cover the soil, not to be looked at.
- 25 plants in 7 groups (5, 5, 3, 3, 3, 3 and 3). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
- Beside sea thrift. A recognised partner: the planner puts such plants together where it can.
Why now
- In flower for 16 weeks. From late May to early September.
- Part of the bed's peak. With little bluestem 'The Blues', brown-eyed Susan, blanket flower 'Burgundy' and others in early August: 5 kinds at once. No week has more.
- One of two evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 7 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowering is at its height from early August, with 5 kinds out together. Alpine geranium is planted in 7 places along the bed, which gives it rhythm.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where alpine geranium goes in a border
At 3 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
A miniature for troughs, crevices and the gaps in paving, where it flowers for months. It needs sharp drainage and dislikes winter wet more than cold.
- Troughs and rock gardens
- Paving joints
- Edging in gravel
What to plant with alpine geranium
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Creeping thyme: in flower together for six weeks, from early June; happy in the same dry soil.
- Hens and chicks: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
- Sea thrift: in flower together for four weeks, from late May; tall enough (8 in) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about alpine geranium
Does alpine geranium need sun or shade?
Alpine geranium grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled.
What zones does alpine geranium grow in?
USDA zones 7 to 9. It is hardy to zone 7, which means it survives winter nights down to about 10 °F (−12 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does alpine geranium flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to early September. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 7 | Early May to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 8 | Early May to early September |
| Zone 9 | Late April to early September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should alpine geranium be planted?
8 in (20 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 10 in (25 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 in (8 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many alpine geranium plants do I need?
At 8 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 27 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 16 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 86 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used 25 in seven groups.
What flowers after alpine geranium?
Alpine geranium is over by early September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- Pink muhly grass: from mid September to early November, 3 ft tall.
- Autumn crocus: from mid September to mid October, 5 in tall.
What does alpine geranium look like in winter?
Alpine geranium keeps its dark green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
In these guides
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 3 in (8 cm) tall, 10 in (25 cm) wide
- Plant
- 8 in (20 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late May to early September; open bowls; white, pink
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 7 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.