Posted on by susurrus

Hardy Double Geranium pratense ‘Summer Skies’

Geranium pratense 'Summer Skies': hardy geranium with double flowers

Geranium ‘Summer Skies’ is a clump forming perennial that is hardy in the UK. The flowers are pastel coloured doubles with yellow centres . Tiny central petals form a distinctive, open bowl shape. You’ll see the base colour described as sky blue (sky-blue pink is, for once, more accurate); the colour tends to deepen as the flowers age. Dissected foliage and branching stems complete the picture.

The overall effect is ethereal – if fairies were cavorting in and around geraniums, these would be the ones they’d choose.

I love the hardy double geraniums, but have found the ones I’ve grown to be less resilient than their single cousins, with more of a tendency to be swamped by something. I’ve never grown this one, but it might be wise to keep it away from anything particularly invasive.

18 Replies to “Hardy Double Geranium pratense ‘Summer Skies’”

  3. What a delightful image to start my day! For a brief moment, I thought it was summer! “Sky-blue pink” was one of the favorite expressions of my Grandma Mauck and ever puzzled me. Many years later I was astounded to see it on a plant label, I think at the Huntington. Now here! What wonder! And what a lovely effect of the whole — “ethereal” says it.

    1. Mama used to say ‘sky blue pink with yellow dots on’ most times she was asked to state a colour preference and, come to think of it, these flowers do have yellow dots on, even if only one each. Now that’s a very strange thought.

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