The welcome rainfall has really boosted everything in the garden, although it is always sad to see the early bloomers finished until next year. My garden is always at its best Mid-April To mid-June. I can now breathe a sigh of relief, as the couple of bamboos that I have, are finally greening up again. I always worry that they aren’t going to recover after their winter battering, because they are so late. I have a Phyllostachys nigra which was badly damaged a couple of years ago, and only partially survived. We are promised another “heatwave” next week. I think it is meant to reach as much as 29°C on one day!
An abundance of geraniums this week. I wanted to get them in before some finish flowering.
I’m sure Rosa ‘Rambling Rector’ is on steroids. This is only its third year since I planted it, but I never thought this would be the result. Some late pruning, to contain it a little, has certainly helped the flower count. On a warm day it fills my tiny garden with scent, so I won’t complain. A drastic prune is now due!
Geranium ‘Galactic’ or to give it the full title Geranium pratense var. pratense f. albiflorum ‘Galactic’, poor thing! It sat in the garden unrecognised, until I found an old label that had been disregarded a few years ago. I am always hesitant when identifying geraniums, as the variations are often very slight. This has led to a growing problem of, plants offered for sale, being wrongly labeled. Best left to the specialists.
Unfortunately the flower is much pinker than shown, as the name implies. Geranium x oxonianum ‘Dusky Rose’ is a new cultivar which I am hoping should flower right through the summer.
Another low growing geranium (6″). Geranium Orkney Cherry is bred by Alan Bremner in the Orkney Islands so it must be hardy.
Geranium Patricia is another cultivar from Alan Bremner and is the result of Geranium endressii x Geranium psilostomen. I know this one will produce flowers through the summer. Geranium ‘Galactic’ however, I will be cutting back in the next couple of weeks, and hoping for a second flush of flowers.
My favourite pink geranium. I have had Geranium × oxonianum ‘Wargrave Pink’ for many years, even before I made the decision to grow more geraniums. This is another one I know will keep flowering right through the summer.
This meme is hosted by Jim Stevens who is to be found with all the details and links to plenty of other blogs to enjoy at Garden Ruminations.
A Plantsman's World 
I do love a geranium! My favourite is the many-barrelled Galactic. Your Rambling Rector is very impressive, what a fabulous sight it must be in real life. Have a good week, Rick.
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Thank you. I don’t quite know where ‘Rambling Rector’ is getting its food from, but it has certainly put on a show!
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Love your hardy geraniums, they are a favourite of mine. I use mine to hide the bare legs of my roses and all the colours go so well together. I have to admit though that I like the blue ones best!
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I am growing them here because they are so tough and my conditions aren’t ideal. Besides that I like them! I do like the blues, but, by the same token, I think that’s what drew me to that salmon-pink of ‘Wargrave Pink’. It was just so different.
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Lovely geraniums but if there are so many varieties which are so similar to each other should they all have been named? For instance, your ‘Patricia’ looks exactly like my ‘Ivan’ which looks like the plain Geranium psilostemon to me, although I think it is longer flowering.
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I couldn’t agree more but I am sure the experts can point out all sorts of differences. Although there have been quite a few naturally occurring hybrids, I suppose the main aim of the plant breeders, is to maximise the length of flowering time. There must be around a hundred cultivars in the x oxonianums alone mainly in various shades of pink.
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So many pretty geraniums this week! A bit like Gill, my favourite this week,is the ‘Galactic’ one.
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Thank you. ‘Galactic’ is very popular.
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The geraniums are lovely. I have several geraniums but, apart from “Patricia”, mine don’t seem to have been as good this year, I’m not sure why but maybe the hot, dry few weeks earlier in the year didn’t suit them.
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I seem to have been lucky as mine have been the best ever. I think it’s probably because some of them are fairly new and they are just getting into their stride.
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I’m a fan of the hardy geraniums though some can be a bit too aggressive! Rozanne and Anne Thomson for instance. I do like the chocolate colour of the foliage on that Geranium x oxonianum ‘Dusky Rose’. I must look out for that one.
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You are right there, some of them are almost thugs! I think my worst one for that is ‘Johnson’s Blue’, I reduced it by 50% at the end of last year and it’s already back to where it started! I really like ‘Dusky Rose’ that’s why I took a close-up to show off the foliage.
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Yes, that last Geranium is lovely, but the others are gorgeous, too. Do the white ones glow at night? Happy Six!
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I don’t know if they glow as such, but those white flowers that are still open at night, do stand out.
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Oh no, not another mini heatwave. It’s hot enough as it is! A lovely selection. I remember visiting a garden that had a ‘Rambling Rector’ rose growing up a large tree. The fragrance was wonderful.
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Yes, there’s warm and there is hot and my northern blood doesn’t like it. I know its hot when I start to get fed up of watering!
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