Perennial Geraniums: Discover the Varieties with Colourful Foliage to Enhance Your Flower Beds
Golden, grey, purple or black: discover the surprising palette of perennial geranium foliage
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Few plants offer as many attractions in the garden as hardy geraniums. While we appreciate their long flowering period from spring to summer, the colour of their flowers ranging from white to purple, and their impeccable ground-covering effect, we sometimes forget that some of them reward us with absolutely unique foliage. Golden, with greyish hues to almost black, the leaves of hardy geraniums show us every colour imaginable!
Discover these hardy geraniums with decorative foliage, perfect for adding depth and subtle contrasts to every corner of your garden.
Perennial geraniums with very dark leaves
With evocative names, these geraniums certainly stand out… Their foliage is dark, a very deep purple, almost bordering on black.
Several compete in this category, often with pale flowers that contrast divinely against the dark backdrop provided by the foliar mass:
- The Geranium pratense ‘Purple Ghost’, with white flowers veined in grey, boasts one of the darkest, deeply cut leaves (40 cm)
- The Geranium pratense ‘Dark Reiter’, with stunning, finely cut leaves in a purplish-brown hue that particularly enhances the lavender-blue flowers in partial shade (around 25 cm)
- The Geranium maculatum ‘Stormy Night’, a wonder when planted in shade, with beautiful mahogany-brown leaves and mauve flowers with a white centre.
→ My tip: their very dark foliage divinely highlights delicate flowerings in pale pink and pearly tones, such as the rose ‘Crème Chantilly’ or salmon-coloured Oriental Poppies like Papaver orientale ‘Mrs Perry’.
‘Purple Ghost’, ‘Dark Reiter’ and ‘Stormy Night’
Perennial geraniums with purple to bronze leaves
With shades of brown, bronze and purple on their leaves, here are geraniums that blend in everywhere, these colours not only enhancing the delicate flowering but also creating harmony with other perennials planted alongside them. The Geranium maculatum species will prefer partial shade and moist soil, while the Geranium oxonianum will thrive better in full sun. Here are some beautiful varieties to discover:
- The Geranium maculatum ‘Espresso’ with chocolate-brown dentate and lobed leaves and lilac-pink flowers, it grows to 60 cm tall and slightly less in width.
- The Geranium maculatum ‘Elisabeth Ann’, with mauve-blue flowers and chocolate-brown foliage, slightly shorter at 50 cm in all directions
- The Geranium x oxonianum ‘Dusky Crug’: even smaller, but with chocolate and bronze tones, it beautifully highlights the pale pink flowers
- The Geranium x oxonianum ‘Sanne’: a must-have! Dense and compact (20 cm), it offers evergreen brown to purplish foliage with green-bronze reflections, above which pure white, slightly veined flowers appear from May to September
- The Geranium oxonianum x antipodeum ‘Rothbury Red’ : its evergreen bronze-green leaves contrast with white flowers, reaching about 30 cm in height
- The Geranium pratense ‘Dark Eyes’, with deeply cut, fairly dark purple leaves, taller (50 cm), deciduous, with bright pink flowering and a black centre that gives it its name. Best planted in full sun for optimal flowering
- The Geranium x sessiliflorum ‘Bob’s Blunder’ is another interesting cultivar, with brown to bronze leaves revealing small pearly flowers.
‘Espresso’, ‘Dusky Crug’ and ‘Sanne’
→ My tip: to incorporate them into your garden, why not draw inspiration from our Coffee Colour Inspiration and Trend Colour 2025: How to Integrate ‘Mocha Mousse’ in the Garden?
The grey-leaved perennial geraniums
They are mainly found on the Geranium cinereum species, from the Latin cinereus meaning ashen. These perennial geraniums are small in size, all displaying a lovely greyish hue, perfect for combining with purple foliage and white to bluish flowering. They thrive in sunny spots and rockeries.
- The Geranium cinereum ‘Jolly Jewel’ Violet or ‘Salmon‘: two stunning varieties with greyish-green, pubescent leaves, compact in size (20-25 cm)
- The Geranium cinereum ‘Carol’ : semi-evergreen depending on the climate, its slightly downy silver-grey leaves and pink flowers veined with purple make it another dwarf variety (20 cm)
- The Geranium cinereum ‘Ballerina’ boasts grey, evergreen foliage, beautifully lobed, with pink flowers veined in purple and a brown centre
- The Geranium cinereum v. subcaulescens : semi-evergreen, they come in several cultivars. ‘Giuseppii‘ and ‘Splendens’ also form this charming, matte and ashen mass
- The Geranium renardii, also known as Renard’s geranium or crêpe-leaf geranium, is highly drought-resistant. It stands out with its almost rounded, downy leaves and their crinkled texture. Their grey-green colour perfectly highlights the white flowers, delicately veined in purple.
→ My tip: to incorporate them into your garden, pair them with white and blue flowering plants like Agastaches or roses, or enhance the silvery effect with a Cornus alba ‘Elegantissima’, variegated with cream, and campions.
Geranium cinereum v. subcaulescens, ‘Jolly Jewel’ and Geranium renardii
Perennial geraniums with golden leaves
Golden-leaved perennial geraniums are less common, but there are two elegant varieties that instantly brighten up partially shaded areas:
- The perennial geranium ‘Blue Sunrise’ is a hybrid of Geranium wallichianum, a classic featuring remarkably lobed deciduous foliage in a greenish-yellow, very golden hue. This colour evolves throughout the seasons, shifting from bright yellow edged with orange to light green and back to gold. Its flowers are a beautiful pink, and it blooms late, from July to September (40 cm in height).
- The perennial geranium ‘Ann Folkard’: prized for its endless flowering from June to October, its golden spring foliage that turns light green, and its vibrant magenta-red flowers (50 cm in height).
→ My tip: in terms of pairings, they complement a wide range of colours, but deep purple to dark tones will create a striking contrast! Discover our Purple and Anise Inspiration.
Geraniums ‘Blue Sunrise’ and ‘Ann Folkard’ (© Leonora Enking)
Perennial geraniums with variegated and marbled leaves
There are other types of colourful foliage among perennial geraniums… These are variegated, marbled, maculate… We love them! They are particularly prominent in Geranium phaeum.
- The Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’: the most well-known of all, a reliable variety proudly displaying matte green lamina maculate with chocolate purple at the centre. Its large flowers are a beautiful violet-pink. Height 50 cm
- The Geranium phaeum ‘Margaret Wilson’: a magnificent leaf flecked with pale green and cream and mauve flowering. Height 50 cm
- The Geranium phaeum ‘Calligrapher’ is green, strikingly marked with chocolate at the centre of the lamina
- The Geranium phaeum ‘Variegatum’ is variegated with green, pink and white, its flowers are mauve
- Geranium yoshinoi Confetti: a small creeping geranium whose leaves become variegated with cream and sometimes pink in spring. Its flowers are a fresh pink. Height 50 cm
- The Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Variegatum’ also has flowers in dark pink to mauve, with leaves irregularly marginate with cream.
→ My advice: these variegated varieties will harmoniously accompany the delicate foliage of gypsophila and the airy flowering of Gillenia trifoliata, the purple of Agastaches, the beauty of astrantias and wood sage…
Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’, ‘Margaret Wilson’ and Geranium yoshinoi ‘Confetti’
Perennial geraniums with autumn colouration
If the Geranium macrorrhizum* take on beautiful autumn hues, often turning red, other perennial geraniums shift to warm colours in late summer during this season. These are mainly deciduous species that offer one last colourful surprise before winter’s chill!
- The Geranium psilostemon ‘Bressingham Flair’: tall (80 cm), with magenta pink flowers, its leaves turn red with the first frosts
- The Geranium pratense ‘Femme Fatale’: its pretty, deeply cut leaves are initially purple, then turn dark green and finally red in autumn. A lovely mauve flowering with a white heart for this medium-sized (45 cm) geranium
- The Hardy Geranium ‘Nimbus’: with finely cut light green leaves, it adorns itself in orange and red in autumn. Its mauve-blue flowering is ultra-generous until October
- The Geranium sanguineum ‘Elke’ turns a deep red. Its flowers are candy pink
- The Geranium sanguineum x psilostemon ‘Tiny Monster’ turns a purplish red
- The Geranium sanguineum ‘Elsbeth’ also takes on reddish hues as the cold sets in.
*‘Spessart’ and ‘Bevan’s Variety’ turn red and bronze very early, from late August.
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