Bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety'
Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety' · Geraniaceae
Deep magenta flowers with red calyces over sticky, aromatic leaves that turn red and orange in autumn and often last the winter.
- Size
- 12 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to shade
- Flowers
- Mid May to late June
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety'
The planner designed this bed around bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' × 8, pink
- 2 Carpathian bellflower × 4, blue
- 3 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 4 Anise hyssop × 5, lavender
- 5 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Shooting star × 8, white
- 7 Snow crocus × 12, purple
- 8 Grecian windflower × 8, blue
Why this plant
- The only pink.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 12 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 63% of the edge.
- 8 plants in 2 runs (5 and 3). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From mid May to late June.
- Fills a gap. For three of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Cool colours (pink, blue, lavender and purple) with yellow as the warm note, and white to calm things between them. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 46 to 54, left to right.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 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 bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' goes in a border
At 12 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
The best groundcover for dry shade, bar none: it roots as it spreads and lets no weed through, yet is easy to pull back. This is the strongest-coloured form.
- Groundcover in dry shade
- Under trees and hedges
- Weed-proof edging
What to plant with bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Lenten rose: flowers first, late March to early May, so the spot is never empty; bold leaves against its medium ones.
- Christmas fern: its dark green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (20 in) to stand behind it.
- Solomon's seal: in flower together for three weeks, from mid May; tall enough (3 ft) to stand behind it.
Questions about bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety'
Does bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' need sun or shade?
Bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun), part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid May to late June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Late May to late June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late May to late June |
| Zone 5 | Mid May to late June |
| Zone 6 | Early May to late June |
| Zone 7 | Early May to mid June |
| Zone 8 | Late April to mid June |
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 bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 12 in (30 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 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 eight in two groups.
What flowers after bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety'?
Bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' is over by late June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Astilbe: from late June to mid July, 24 in tall.
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall.
What does bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' look like in winter?
Bigroot cranesbill 'Bevan's Variety' holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
More Geranium
- Armenian cranesbill Geranium psilostemon
- Bigroot cranesbill Geranium macrorrhizum
- Bigroot cranesbill 'Ingwersen's Variety' Geranium macrorrhizum 'Ingwersen's Variety'
- Bloody cranesbill Geranium sanguineum
- Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' Geranium sanguineum 'Max Frei'
- Cranesbill 'Ann Folkard' Geranium 'Ann Folkard'
- Cranesbill 'Azure Rush' Geranium 'Azure Rush'
- Cranesbill 'Ballerina' Geranium cinereum 'Ballerina'
- Cranesbill 'Biokovo' Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo'
- Cranesbill 'Brookside' Geranium 'Brookside'
- Cranesbill 'Johnson's Blue' Geranium 'Johnson's Blue'
- Cranesbill 'Karmina' Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Karmina'
- Cranesbill 'Orion' Geranium 'Orion'
- Cranesbill 'Rozanne' Geranium 'Gerwat' (Rozanne)
- Cranesbill 'Wargrave Pink' Geranium x oxonianum 'Wargrave Pink'
- Dalmatian cranesbill Geranium dalmaticum
- Himalayan cranesbill Geranium himalayense
- Meadow cranesbill Geranium pratense
- Meadow cranesbill 'Midnight Reiter' Geranium pratense 'Midnight Reiter'
- Mourning widow Geranium phaeum
- Mourning widow 'Samobor' Geranium phaeum 'Samobor'
- Renard's cranesbill Geranium renardii
- Showy cranesbill Geranium x magnificum
- Striped bloody cranesbill Geranium sanguineum var. striatum
- Wild geranium Geranium maculatum
- Wild geranium 'Espresso' Geranium maculatum 'Espresso'
In these guides
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 12 in (30 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid May to late June; open bowls; pink, purple
- Leaves
- Medium texture, semi-evergreen; green
- Shape
- Mounding, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade, shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Geraniaceae
Checked against VASCAN (plants of Canada). 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.