Geranium pratense Marshmallow

The Perennial Geranium pratense 'Marshmallow', also known as meadow cranesbill, is a new robust and richly colored cultivar. The plant offers a delightful contrast between the madder red that maculates its intensely cut foliage, its red stems, and the sweet indulgence of its pale pink flowers, edged with deep pink and punctuated with coral stamens. It blooms from June to August, forming a generous flowering dome that will expand over time. It is a plant with a rustic character, a robust perennial for all gardens, in fresh and fertile soil.

The Geranium pratense 'Marshmallow' belongs to the geranium family. It is a recent variety derived from meadow cranesbill, which is naturally distributed over a vast territory, from western Europe to western China. This deciduous and robust species can be found in wet meadows, along roadsides, and in mown meadows.

The 'Marshmallow' variety has an opulent and bushy clump-like habit, reaching a height and width of 60 cm (24in), with rapid growth. It flowers from June to August, on top of hairy branched stems, ranging in color from red to purple, and often reblooms in September. Its flowers, with a diameter of 30 to 35 mm (1in), are pale pink, edged with a deep pink zone, and the coral anthers bring liveliness to the heart of the flower. They stand out well from the compound foliage with large polygonal, intensely lobed and toothed leaves, bronze-green tinged with madder red, sometimes purple and then dark green in summer. They measure 20 cm (8in) long and are almost all along the robust stems.

Like many other species of perennial geraniums, Geranium pratense and its varieties perform very well in a nature-friendly garden and are superb plants, providing nectar and pollen for many insects such as butterflies, bees, bumblebees, etc. It is a tall plant ideal for a curated garden, in a mass planting, along a path, on slopes, in a flower meadow. For example, associate it with the clematis 'Hagley Hybrid', with its large pink flowers, which it accompanies in flowering, with aconites, corydalis, or even tall pink or white foxgloves.