Flowers That Go With Geraniums in Borders

Show off geraniums in a colorful flower border.

Geraniums are frost-sensitive perennials, although gardeners who live in cold winter climates grow it as an annual. It is possible to overwinter geraniums. Dig them up, place in pots and grow them inside. Placed in a sunny window, they'll get through till spring. Then you can replant in the spring with a variety of other flowers for a cheerful border.

Culture

Geraniums grow in full sun and prefer well-drained, rich soil. Choose flowers that like the same culture as geraniums. Pansies and nasturtiums are choices that will work well with geraniums, or try English daisies and marigolds. Keep the border well-watered. If the leaves wilt on a geranium they'll yellow and fall off, leaving the plant rather leggy and bare. Fertilize with water-soluble fertilizer as the package directs. Geraniums can grow up to 24 inches by summer's end.

Contrasting Color

Set off the pinks and reds of geraniums with white and blue varieties. Create a patriotic border by placing blue salvia in the back of the bed. The flowers appear on spires up to 36 inches high. Plant red geraniums in the middle of the bed and edge with white candytuft. Another combination might include red tall zinnias in the back of the bed, white geraniums in the middle and bright blue lobelia as the edging.

Similar Colors

Play up the pinks and purples of geraniums with other flowers that bloom in pinks and purples. Larkspur has round, pink flowers clustered tightly up the stems. It grows to 4 feet high, so plant it in the back of the border. The foliage is feathery, so even though the plant is large, it won't overwhelm the flowerbed. Place a border of purple stock in front of the larkspur. Plant pink and purple geraniums among pink and purple petunias to finish the border.

Same Color

Create a moon garden with all white flowers for your flower bed. White seems to glow in the evening. Pair white geraniums with white trumpet flowers and white petunias. Edge the bed with white candytuft or alyssum. Give an airy look to the bed with gypsophilia.

Shape

Each individual geranium flower has five round petals arranged in a circle. Each stem carries 50 or more flowers clustered into a ball shape. There may be as many as 15 to 20 stems blooming on a single plant. The stems are short, only about 6 inches long, but held above the foliage. Contrast the round shape of the geranium with flowers that bloom on spikes, such as snapdragons. Complement the ball-shaped geranium flowers with alliums, which also have hundreds of tiny flowers clustered in a ball at the top of a stem.

References

• North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service: Geranium Culture for Home Gardeners; Alice B. Russell; December 1997
• "The Country Garden"; Charlie Ryrie; 2003
• "Garden Ideas"; Carol Spier et al.; 1996