Geranium sanguineum Aviemore

The Geranium sanguineum 'Aviemore', also known as 'Aviemore' Bloody Cranesbill or Crane's Beak, is distinguished by its compact and generally low growth. It forms a dense clump of finely divided foliage, turning red in autumn. It offers its large flowers in a cup-shaped bright mauve pink, veined with purple, in successive waves from May to the gates of autumn. Over time, it forms a good ground cover, thickening year after year, and is a plant that tolerates sun, shade, and drought, particularly well adapted to gardens in the south.

The Geranium sanguineum 'Aviemore' belongs to the Geraniaceae family. It comes from Geranium sanguineum, native to Europe and Turkey. It grows quite slowly, forming a compact mass of 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12in) in height, sometimes more, and slowly spreads by its rhizomes in a carpet of 30 cm (12in) in diameter or more. Its beautiful pink mauve flowers, veined with purple and undulate margins, with a whiter center and mauve anthers, bloom from May-June to August, and then again in autumn. The fruits are elongated with a long beak, resembling a crane's beak (hence its name). The foliage is semi-evergreen, taking on more or less marked red colors in autumn and winter. Its leaves are deeply cut, villous, medium green, and measure 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4in) in length.

In nature, the Bloody Cranesbill is frequently found in rocky soils, but in the garden, it adapts to all soils and exposures. It is valuable on the edge of woodland, where the competition from the roots of bushes does not bother it. It is also welcome in sunny rockeries, on wild slopes, or in dry shade under trees, in the company of Epimediums, periwinkles, or dead nettles. It also thrives in the crevices of walls, associated with wall bellflowers. This geranium readily self-seeds (not always faithfully) through other ground cover perennials such as thyme, Caucasian Rockcress, or woolly wormwood.