Erodium variabile Album - Storksbill

Erodium x variabile 'Album' is a beautiful perennial for rockeries or alpine gardens that flowers enthusiastically for weeks and thrives in poor, rocky, and dry soils in summer. This 'Album' variety bears delicately veined white flowers on a small cushion of green leaves. Similar to the perennial Geranium sanguineum, this variety, sometimes called Storksbill, provides the same benefits to gardeners, both in the garden and in pots.

Erodium x variabile Album belongs to the family Geraniaceae. There are around sixty species of Erodium, mainly originating from Mediterranean regions and western Asia. These hardy little plants grow in limestone mountains, on sunny, warm, and dry rocky slopes. The name Erodium comes from the Greek "erodios," which translates to heron, because the shape of the Erodium fruit resembles a heron or stork's beak. Erodium × variabile seems to be the result of hybridisation between the two species Erodium corsicum and E. reichardii. The 'Album' variety with almost white flowers is a small perennial, with a compact and spreading habit that forms a dense tuft measuring 12-15 cm (5-6in) in height and 30-40 cm (12-16in) in width. Its small leaves sometimes persist partially in winter, depending on the climate, but are mostly deciduous. They are rounded and lobed, a bright green colour that becomes more grey in summer. The flowering period is long, extending from May-June to September. The solitary flowers, with 5 irregular petals, are white veined with purple and form a 1 cm (0.5in) diameter cup.

Easy to grow, this hardy perennial, to -20°C, thrives in sun-exposed areas, gravel beds, rocky slopes, rockeries, the tops of walls, crevices between stones, and sunny borders. It withstands both drought and cold, but is sensitive to winter waterlogging. Pair Erodium with sedums, Delosperma, teucriums, or oreganos, for example. Cultivation in pots is entirely possible, using a mix of equal parts potting compost, garden soil, and gravel.