Geranium wallichianum Crystal Lake - Wallich's Cranesbill

The perennial Geranium wallichianum 'Crystal Lake' combines many qualities. Its large flowers of an extraordinary crystal lavender mauve, highlighted with white in the centre and intensely veined with purple, bloom from July until the first frost above marbled and toothed foliage. Its long, creeping stems carpet the ground, in full sun or partial shade. It is hardy, very floriferous and highly tolerant, it only dislikes waterlogged soils in winter.

Geranium wallichianum 'Crystal Lake' belongs to the Geraniaceae family. It is a selection obtained in 2002 in the Netherlands, the result of self-pollination of G. wallichianum 'Silvery Blue'. This plant originates from Geranium wallichianum, a wild Himalayan species (from Afghanistan to India), where it grows up to approximately 3600 m in altitude, on the slopes, in the forests and among the shrub hedges. 'Crystal Lake' has a dense and spreading habit, reaching 30 cm (12in) high with a minimum spread of 60 cm (24in), sometimes up to 1.20 m (4ft) if the conditions are right. This geranium has a particularly long flowering period, from July to November. The cup-shaped flowers measure 4 cm (2in) in diameter and are a luminous and refined very pale mauve with purple veins. They become more mauve as the first cold weather arrives. The foliage is evergreen, marbled light green with caramel tones, turning red in autumn. The leaves are deeply lobed and wavy, with toothed edges. This creeping perennial sends out 60 cm (24in) long, branching stems that lie on the ground without rooting. It has a specific root system, with a central and unique taproot, and a few large fibrous secondary roots.

Perennial Geranium wallichianum 'Crystal Lake' is ideal for borders, moist rockeries, and flower beds. In partial shade, it will thrive in a flower bed, alongside Campanula 'Burghaltii' and Pulmonaria 'Diane Claire' with their beautiful silvery foliage. It can also be planted on top of a wall, in a semi-shaded rockery where it will lean, with its base in the shade and its head in the sun, among columbines, Chiastophyllum oppositifolium, or Chrysogonum virginianum. It likes to creep under low branches of shrubs, where will only suffocate weeds.