Geranium cinereum
# Geranium cinereum

Geranium cinereum, the ashy cranesbill, is a species of flowering plant in the family Geraniaceae, native to the Pyrenees. Growing to 50 cm (20 in) tall and wide, it is a small, deciduous or semi-evergreen perennial usually grown for low ground cover, rockeries or underplanting larger subjects like roses. Leaves are deeply divided and grey-green – whence the Latin specific epithet cinereum "ash-grey". It flowers in summer, with striking black-eyed flowers with black stamens. The plant grows in full sunlight, and is hardy down to −15 °C (5 °F).

In cultivation in the UK the following cultivars in the Cinereum Group have been given a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit:-

* 'Ballerina'
* Blue Sunrise = 'Blogold'
* 'Giuseppe'
* Rothbury Gem = ‘Gerfos’
