Friday, March 05, 2010

"Max Frei" Geranium

I was asked by a fellow blogger the other day if I had any geraniums that seeded all over the place.  Well, I do, it is Max.  I find him in many different areas of the garden some quite far away from where he was first planted.  At first I was quite shocked because I thought I had planted this beautiful little mound of magenta flowers, and now he has morphed into a much more leggy variety of himself.

My first impulse was to yank every bit of this alien that I could find.  But, I restrained myself and watched his offspring grow throughout the seasons.  They sported flowers that looked identical to Max's but their growth was much more sprawling.  I found I could live with it, and cut them back if they became too untamed.

Max Frei is a lovely little geranium, growing in mounds throughout the spring, summer and fall.  It is flush with magenta flowers in the spring and can be lightly trimmed to keep a pleasing shape.   This trimming can be done more than once during the seasons producing a limited display up until frost.  It is not a rival to Rozanne but is perfect along a walkway as it never becomes out of bounds.