Adenophora tashiroi

Bluestone Perennials says "It does not spread or run aggressively". I like the looks of this plant, but I am leery. Does anyone have any experience with this particular plant?

I've grown it for many years and have not found it to be spreading at all.

Ooooh, alta, how tall is it? 12"? And just Love your geraiums, how pretty! I have Adenophora lilfolia, love it, but yes it spreads, so am also curious about this one.

Yes, Adenophora tashiroi gets to about a foot tall for me. I've found some other Adenophora species to be quite invasive.

Thanks, alta. It's quite pretty. Is that geranium 'Biokovo'? I bought a couple of "roots" last year. They were misplaced, and I found them quite crispy in the garage about two months later. I am thinking about ordering them again. They look very happy in your garden. It looks like you have this pretty combo in quite a bit of shade?
Thanks for showing the picture.

Yes, birder, that is Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo'. That area is part shade due to surrounding trees. Having said that, most geraniums are not too fussy about light at all here. This is not a hot area though (we only get a few >80 degree F days during the brief summer), probably unlike your area.

Thanks, again. Oh yes, we usually have temps in top 90's with humidity. However, this year was unusual. We had temps in the low 100's with a breeze and not much humidity.
I think I am going to get that geranium and the Adenorpha t..

Oh, I have only one Biokovo. I only have one, which I moved from the feet of Zeph in my old garden to the feet of Marchesa in my new one. Here it is with Zeph last year.

I found it a bit fragile, but I adore it. Does it just clump, or does it spread? Yours look wonderful.

Donna, I don't have this plant, but the research indicates it's a rhysomatous spreader. Reports say it's not aggressive and easy to pull out. I hope someone that has this plant will reply.

Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo' does spread by rhizomes (a habit which all Geranium x cantabrigiense cultivars get from the parent G. macrorrhizum) but slowly and, yes, it is easy to control. It doesn't root deeply and any unwanted advances can be cut off and discarded or rooted for planting elsewhere.

I have a few different geranium cantabrigiense and they are a good spreader here. The leaves turn reddish in fall, and they have a pine scent. I highly recommend them. Definitely not invasive here. Leaves are pretty all season, and they bloom for a long time.

Thank you all.

Yes, yes, please spread, please spread!!!!!

I bought my Biokovo in the early 80's for a house in Southampton, LI. I've moved and shared it ever since. For me it has always filled in quickly but never exceeded its territory. One friend has it under a Japanese Maple, and never has to weed there any more. At this house in CT I brought 1 plant 3 years ago from my Mom's house on LI. Last fall I moved it into 3 new areas.
Pic 1 is from last spring, tucked in under the Rhodie. I had moved and spread it out the previous fall, and it already made a pretty good display. I decided it was too pink for all those silvers and blues, and planned to move it again in the fall. By then it was twice the size.
Pics 2 & 3 in September I put it around some baby Brandywine Viburnums and along a ledge under a box hedge just opposite, dividing it quite small. The last few went under some white Hydrangeas.

The funny thing is, I originally bought it from Spring Hill as AT Johnson, and for years that's what I called it. Only recently I discovered the ATJ re-blooms, and mine does not. And mine in bloom look exactly like every picture I've ever seen of Biokovo. Another nice feature of this plant is that the leaves stay fresh and pretty all summer, and take on a reddish tinge in the fall.

Thank you all for the good news. I was given several geraniums by a king DGer because I gave him some lilies and he insisted on reciprocating. I had never had any before and fell in love. And then the light really came on when I found what I believe to be a geranium maculatum in the yard of my new house (celebrating one year). Its delicacy blew me away. It was next to the neighbor's chain link fence. I recognized it as looking at the ones growing wild on the trails. But there was only one. Don't they spread?

I also inherited a huge hydrangea macrophylla that the owner said had never bloomed in 20 years. It bloomed blue, pink and purple. Since it had never bloomed it had been dumped next to the neighbor's chain link fence. I moved it too.

The other surprise was a quite large dicentra, which worked really well with my new oakleaf hydrangea and athyrium nipponicum 'Ursula's Red'.

It almost made me forget the billion wild strawberries, ditch lilies, and the relentless march of the lily of the valley, the latter of which if left alone destroys every other plant in its path.

If you like Biokovo, Karmina is the same, but a brighter pink, and St. Ola, almost a white. I think there are a few more, but I don't know the names.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/113865/

http://www.ditoplant.nl/?p=fotos&id=367&lang=en

And expensive, yes, but I love this website


http://geraniaceae.com/cgi-bin/welcome.py

Love the pictures and good info on the Geranium cantabrigiense 'Biokova'.
I was looking at Swallowtail Seeds this evening. They have a Geranium sanguineum 'Vision Light Pink'.
How does this one compare to Biokova? Does anyone have any experience growing this one?

I have several Geranium sanguineum (self-seeded) in the yard - it's an excellent plant with showy flowers and brilliant fall colour.... possibly my favourite geranium. It does not spread by rhizomes (it's tap-rooted), so differs from G. X cantabrigiense in that respect.

This message was edited Jan 3, 2013 10:33 PM

'altagardener', funny you mention "fall colour" as I have always been impressed with the geranium MAX FREI. I know this is a very common, often used hardy geranium plant but it has so much going for it:

- tons of flowers in the spring (a little rebloom in the fall)
- so very compact and tight
- nice fall colour

This message was edited Jan 5, 2013 6:43 PM

polly, I forgot to mention I looked at the G. Karmina and G. St. Ola. Both are very nice. It looks like all three would blend nicely.

The Visions are really pretty. I think they would be taller and more sprawling than the Biokovo.

I have one G St Ola. I didn't realize it would behave the same as Biokovo. I bought a few white geraniums in 2011, and that's the only one that survived. I was so happy to see it grow and bloom last year that I didn't want to risk it. It's tucked under a long established, low growing box hedge and has done well with nearly no attention after that first summer, surprising as box roots are so greedy. I'll be sure to spread it around more next year now that I know...

Given the interest here in G. x cantabrigiense cultivars, here's another... 'Cambridge'. It's also indestructible.

Indestructible is a word I love.

I (love) mildly stoloniferous plants. I have a lot of yard to fill, so I'm really happy when plants fill in. Of course, I don't mean the way bamboo can fill in....

So pretty, Pfg!

I'll have to look up Cambridge, thanks.

I like it! Almost violet? It seems it would be a fine addition to the others. Nice pic, too!

So pretty!

I really like these Geraniums c. They are so quietly beautiful. Thanks to all for sharing their pics and their info. I did not about these Geranium cantabrigiense that they would slowly spread-what a neat characteristic and their blooms are upright and perky. I will be getting some of these this year!

They don't really spread terrifically, so I would plant them a foot apart or so.

Here's a picture of some fall color on my sanguineum.
I think it's an underappreciated feature of this great plant.
I also have a smaller version, g. sanguineum nanum
- blooms great, nice fall color, just a couple inches tall.
Cute, cute, cute!

Like that one!

The fall color on the Geranium sanguineum is striking. How does the fall color compare between Geranium cantabrigiense vs. Geranium sanquineum? I like the idea of the spreading capability, but I also like the tap root as I think it would not require as much water after it is once established. They are all pretty.

We get annual total precipitation of about 16 inches (including snow). Geranium sanguineum is very drought hardy (have never, ever even seen one wilt); G. X cantabrigiense is a little less so but still very tough.

We are working on a record of 321 days with no snow in excess of 1.3 inches. It is going to be 45 today and 60 tomorrow.

January!!!!!

Same here Donna ie to be in excess of 50 F on the weekend...this will take away any snow we had accumulated up to this point. It isnt normal or maybe it is the new normal.

So, which of the geraniums we have mentioned are most true pink? I think I would like a mix of a pink one and a white with the pink centers. I am finding it a little hard to discern the colors on the computer.

What about G Endressi Wargrave Pink? I don't have it now, but used to, and it's a lovely color. It's also quite well behaved, as I remember. Google has lots of info on it... And I'm sure people here know it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=geranium+wargrave+pink&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

Of the ones I have Karmina is the brightest pink. It goes very well with the white and pink of Biokovo.

I believe the G e. Wargrave Pink spreads slowly like Biokova? It's really a true pink.

The Karmina looks orchid in some pictures. Thanks.

I see B. Stone P. has the Biokovo. I haven't looked much yet for the Geraniums. The're so pretty.