Geranium argenteum – Universtity of Northern British Columbia alpine garden, Prince George, B.C., July 2014. Image: HFN
Perennial. Zone 3. Geraniaceae. An fairly rare alpine native to the mountainous regions of France, Italy and the former Yugoslavia.
Prowling about with my camera on a botanical field day this past summer, I was smitten by this lovely small Geranium in the Alice Wolczuk Alpine Garden located on the UNBC campus in Prince George. Luckily it had a legible name plate, and I was able to do some research on it when I returned home. (This is sadly not always the case – there are a number of interesting “mystery plants” which I’ve not yet managed to identify from this garden. Those harsh Prince George winters are obviously tough on plant labels!)
I have just requested seed of this beauty from the Alpine Garden Club of British Columbia annual winter seed exchange; I do hope I will be lucky enough to receive some, and, if I do, that it will germinate for me. Fingers crossed!
Foliage of a particularly silvery specimen of Geranium argenteum. Image: Enrico Blasutto
The species name, argenteum, “silver”, refers to the foliage, which is finely cut and decidedly silver, being covered in glistening down. The plant is a tap-rooted clump-former, to 6 inches tall and perhaps a foot or so in diameter. It blooms in early summer, with bright magenta flowers prettily striped with darker veins.
Geranium argenteum is a plant of higher elevations, and is tolerant of cold and wind. It does however need good drainage to successfully overwinter – wet around the roots is not recommended. Site this one on a slope or in a raised location of the border.
Geranium argenteum forma a tidy rounded mound, and looks neatly respectable spring through autumn. Prince George, B.C., July 2014. Image: HFN
Silvery Geranium would make a dandy edging plant, if one were able to find a plant source. I don’t think that I’ve ever come across this one in a nursery. If I do in future, I will be sure to snap it up. In the meantime, I ‘ll be waiting to see if I will have a chance to grow it from seed.
This plant has been known in cultivation for several centuries, and a casual browse through several of my old garden books revealed a warm approbation.
John Wood, writing in 1884 in his book Hardy Perennials and Old-Fashioned Garden Flowers, had this to say:
A hardy perennial alpine from the South of Europe, introduced in 1699. It is, therefore, an old plant in this country, and is one of the gems of the rock garden; very dwarf, but effective… The foliage is of a distinct and somewhat conglomerate character, besides being of a silvery-grey colour. Well-grown specimens of this charming Crane’s-bill look remarkably well against dark stones. Its flowers are large for so small a plant, and wherever it finds a suitable home it cannot fail to win admiration…
The flowers are fully an inch in diameter when open, cup-shaped, and striped in two shades of rose colour; the unopened flowers are bell-shaped and drooping; they are borne on long naked pedicels, bent and wiry, oftentimes two on a stem… The leaves are produced on long, bent, wiry stalks…they have a silky appearance, from being furnished with numerous fine hairs or down. The plant continues to flower for many weeks, but, as may be judged, it is, otherwise than when in flower, highly attractive. To lovers of ornamental bedding this must prove a first-rate plant. As an edging to beds or borders of choice things it would be pleasingly appropriate, and, indeed, anywhere amongst other dwarf flowers it could not be other than decorative.
Louise Beebe Wilder, in Pleasures and Problems of a Rock Garden, 1928:
Geranium argenteum is…one of the loveliest things in Nature, with its glistening silver foliage and its “great dog-rose blossoms”…
Reginald Farrer, in My Rock Garden, 1942:
Geranium argenteum, the little Pyrenean, with silver leaves and rosy blooms, is a jewel of jewels…
Here is an Geranium argenteum x cinereum natural hybrid, from a botanical garden in Germany. G. argenteum has been widely used in deliberate cross-pollination as well, and the silver foliage and petal veining are enhanced in its offspring. Image: Wikimedia
