I'll be honest - I love them! Every garden should have as many as you can squeeze in. They're really easy to grow and put on a splendid display of colour that seems to go on and on.
Geums are popular hardy perennials that can flower from late spring into summer and sometimes as late as autumn.
Geums have semi-evergreen foliage and flowers usually of yellow, orange and red. Most geums reach a height of 50cm so are perfect for the front or middle of a border.
They grow in moist but well-drained soil in sun to partial shade. Deadhead your plants after they've flowered and you'll get more and more flowers. Then divide the clumps every three years and get plants for free!
Over a 2 - 5 year period they'll grow to an ultimate height of between 0.5 - 1 metres with a spread of between 0.1 and 0.5 metres
Planting and care:
Now is a great time to plant them. Choose a sunny, well drained spot. They aren't particularly fussy about soil type.
Space your plants about 0.5m apart.
Dig a planting hole the same depth as the root ball and twice as wide.
Add back the soil and firm gently heal it in around the plant.
Water in to settle the soil and continue watering regularly, especially in dry weather. During the first summer mulch them with well-rotted organic matter to conserve moisture.
Ongoing care
Deadheading
Deadhead your plants regularly to ensure healthy growth for the following season. Once the flowering period is over cut back your plant to ground level to rejuvenate and encourage new foliage.
Watering
Water regularly in dry spells during the first year to help them get established, especially if planted in spring or summer.
Feeding
To promote growth and flowers, apply a general-purpose fertiliser each year in the spring at about 70gm per sq m. Then mulch with a layer of garden compost or well-rotted manure to conserve moisture and suppress weeds.
Overwintering
The foliage dies back in late autumn and the plants remain dormant until spring.
Propagating
It is possible to propagate geum by seeds sown in pots during the winter. A better way though is to divide your plants during spring or autumn. Plants should be divided every 3 years or so to prevent them going leggy and to encourage flowering.
Where can I buy them?
I’m so glad you asked that. We've been selling them at The Station Approach in Frome over the past few years and you can now, of course, buy them through Plant a Border.
We're planning to be at The Station Approach every first Saturday of the month from 8am until 1pm.
Use the Contact page to get in touch and we'll be happy to let you know what we're upto.
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