Buy Geranium macrorrhizum 'Ingwersen's Variety'

Also Known As

Hardy Geranium
Ingwersen's Variety Bigroot Geranium
Ingwersens Bigroot Cranesbill

Plant type

perennial, groundcover

size

H: 12"-18"
W: 18"-36"

planting zones

4a-9b

3 inch pot | $12

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Fewer than 20 at Secret Garden Growers

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Geranium macrorrhizum 'Ingwersen's Variety' plant details

Geranium macrorrhizum 'Ingwersen's Variety' is a broadleaf semi-evergreen perennial groundcover with green foliage. In spring and summer pink and white flowers emerge. Features fuzzy texture. Attracts bees making it an excellent addition to pollinator gardens. Grows well with sun - shade and even moisture - low water. Drought tolerant once established. Adapts to various soil conditions. Does well in average, clay, gritty, rich and well-drained soil. A good option if you're seeking something heat tolerant.

CHARACTERISTICS OF Geranium macrorrhizum 'Ingwersen's Variety'

Plant type: perennial groundcover
Plant family: geraniaceae
Foliage: semi-evergreen green
Mature size: 18 IN - 36 IN - wide, 12 IN - 18 IN - tall
Flowers: pink and white blooms in spring and summer
Uses: award-winning, cedar-scented, container plant, edging plant, fragrant

GROWING CONDITIONS for Geranium macrorrhizum 'Ingwersen's Variety'

USDA Zones: 4a - 9b
Sun exposure: sun - shade
Watering frequency: even moisture - low
Resistant to: deer and rabbit, heat
Soil needs: average, clay, gritty, rich and well-drained

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Nursery contributed plant descriptions

THE perfect ground cover for dry shade! This variety of this tough little perennial has the same cedar scented evergreen foliage and the ability to thrive in a tough dry shade situation as the species, but with light pink flowers held well above the clumps of rounded leaves…12-18” tall, eventually a dense mat 3’ wide BUT with non-aggressive roots that will not compete with shallow rooted companions! Part shade to shade, most decent soils, deer resistant. Great Plant Pick for the PNW!

By: Secret Garden Growers

Plucked from a mountainside in Yugoslavia by a sharp eyed plantsman, Ingwersen’s Variety has gained admirers since that very day. Superb for edging the perennial bed or as an underplanting to shrubs, it also is valued as a fragrant ground cover for even dry bright shaded spots (notoriously the most difficult). Bigfoot geranium has fleshy rhizomes that allow it to withstand periods of dry weather, however, it appreciates moisture and sun. In spring it is covered with cool pink flowers that stand well above the foliage, and fall brings on its autumnal array of deep reds and bronze shades.

By: Select Seeds

The cultivars of G. macrorrhizum are hard to live without once you've been introduced! Fragrant leaves form a low mound that spreads into a dense ground cover with good autumn colour. The flowers of this cultivar are lovely pink in late spring and early summer. The feature that will most endear this plant to you, however, is its tolerance of dry shade, even under evergreens. In these situations it will bloom less and grow shorter but will usually tough it out with minimal water once established.

By: Phoenix Perennials and Specialty Plants Ltd.

During a 1929 hiking expedition to Mount Koprivnik, Yugoslavia, Walter Ingwersen, the renowned German plantsman and nursery owner who penned The Genus Geranium, fortuitously happened upon the lovely soft lavender-pink flowers of this particular G. macrorrhizum. Enormous thickset, brown winding rhizomes store up water that keeps the large pale green foliage fresh-looking even during periods of drought and heat, and earn the name ‘bigfoot’. Described by a spicy scent and fiery fall color, fuzzy lobed leaves forge an attractive weed smothering ground cover, while profuse clusters of dainty blossoms with rounded petals and showy stamens linger above. A superb AGM winner, it is well-suited for the perennial border, outshining others in the species, as well as exhibiting more tolerance for tough, dry sites than most in the genus.

By: Digging Dog Nursery

Blooms May-June & sporadically thereafter. Apple scented, light green, glossy leaves turn bronze & scarlet in autumn. Drought tolerant when established. Semi-evergreen. Rhizomatous, quick spreader. Great Ground Cover plant. Found by Walter Ingwersen on Mt. Kopriunik in Yugoslavia in 1929. AKA, Geranium 'Walter Ingwersen'

By: Lazy S'S Farm Nursery

One of the best forms, it's a 2' species from the Mtns of Europe, outstanding groundcover, tolerant of dry shade. Pretty soft pink flowers, aromatic foliage. ZONE 4

By: Arrowhead Alpines

This Geranium macrorrhizum selection has been a work horse in gardens since 1929. Light pink flowers with darker sepals and stems are held high above the aromatic green foliage. Semi-evergreen like all the members of the species. Tolerates bright shade and drier soils too!