Cranesbill 'Karmina'
Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Karmina' ·
A low, dense carpet of small, glossy, scented leaves under carmine-pink flowers in late spring. It reddens in autumn.
- Size
- 8 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late May to early July
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around cranesbill 'Karmina'
The planner designed this bed around cranesbill 'Karmina' 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 cranesbill 'Karmina' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Cranesbill 'Karmina' × 9, pink
- 2 Blue moor grass × 8, purple
- 3 Brown-eyed Susan × 5, yellow
- 4 Foxglove beardtongue × 5, white
- 5 Arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' × 1, grey-green leaves
- 6 Snowdrop × 12, white
- 7 Red spider lily × 3, red
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are spires, daisies, bells and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only pink.
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.
- 9 plants in 3 groups (5, 3 and 1). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From late May to early July.
- Fills a gap. For one of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 5 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Brown-eyed Susan and foxglove beardtongue anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. The front edge is finished with blue moor grass and cranesbill 'Karmina'.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 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 cranesbill 'Karmina' goes in a border
At 8 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.
A darker sister of 'Biokovo', with the same tidy, weed-proof habit. Use the two together for a groundcover in two tones.
- Low groundcover in sun or shade
- Edging paths
- Under shrubs
What to plant with cranesbill 'Karmina'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Cranesbill 'Biokovo': in flower together for six weeks, from late May.
- Hosta: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; bold leaves against its medium ones; spires rising out of its mound.
- Japanese forest grass: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (18 in) to stand behind it.
Questions about cranesbill 'Karmina'
Does cranesbill 'Karmina' need sun or shade?
Cranesbill 'Karmina' 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) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does cranesbill 'Karmina' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °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 cranesbill 'Karmina' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to early July. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Late May to mid July |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late May to early July |
| Zone 6 | Mid May to early July |
| Zone 7 | Early May to late June |
| Zone 8 | Early May to late 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 cranesbill 'Karmina' 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 8 in (20 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many cranesbill 'Karmina' 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 nine in three groups.
What flowers after cranesbill 'Karmina'?
Cranesbill 'Karmina' is over by early July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall.
- Daylily: from late June to early August, 2½ ft tall.
What does cranesbill 'Karmina' look like in winter?
Cranesbill 'Karmina' 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 'Bevan's Variety' Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety'
- 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 '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
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 8 in (20 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
- Late May to early July; open bowls; pink
- Leaves
- Medium texture, semi-evergreen; green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, well-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.