6 on Saturday – 14JUN2025 – Purples and Pinks

Chris Mousseau

Peonies are opening this week, bringing blocks of red, pink and white to the garden, but there are many interesting purple flowers open as well, including a pair of Geraniums that were supposed to be pink. I’ll start with this Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Ingwersens Variety.’ At least, that’s what the label on the pot said when I bought it in 2020. The leaves and flowers are held on tall stems and although pictures and descriptions I see on-line describe it as having deep pink flowers, to me, they’re definitely not pink. Love them, nonetheless.

Purchased at the same time, from the same nursery, is another Geranium labeled as Cranesbill Cambridge Geranium. It’s also supposed to have pinkish flowers. This one is very low growing, almost like a ground cover, semi-evergreen, and has spread slowly in a semi-shaded dry part of the garden:

Staying with the purple theme for one more flower is this tall bearded Iris, name unknown. There’s only one flower stalk this year – I need to do better with propagation I think.

There’s a trio of pure pink flowers in bloom right now. One is the hybrid lupin that I showed last week – I’m going to add it again today just because, and another is a Gerbera daisy that I successfully overwintered indoors, despite the cats. It pushed up this flower starting the moment I started to harden it off outside last month. (Geranium growers take note – this is what pink looks like in the real world!)

The third pink is a peony. You know, some peonies are so jam packed with petals that you can barely see the flower. Beautiful, but how on earth can bees or other normal sized pollinators check out what’s waiting inside? Here’s an example:

Others, like the third pink today, have a fraction of the petals, which allow you to admire their ruffles and ridges even when they’re loosely clenched together, waiting to be coaxed open by warm sunny rays.

SO MUCH MORE is happening in the garden right now, including growing grass and weeds that need to be mowed or pulled. I’m heading out, but if you’d like to see other Sixes from around the world be sure to visit Jim at Garden Ruminations. Have a great weekend everyone!

30 Comments

  1. When I first began gardening, I was focused on veggies, but also wanted to have some flowers. The allotment program advised against double flowers because they are completely useless to most insects. All the same, I think when we have lots of variety, having a few showy plants just for ourselves is fine.I wonder if the geranium color is affected by pH, like some hydrangeas are. I was shocked when I learned that you could add a fertilizer mix designed to give blue (more alkaline) or pink (more acidic). Maybe you need to do an experiment, and some of the fertilizer intended for pink hydrangeas and see if you get a color change. The peonies are especially lovely, but I also love the geraniums which are a lovely color even if they were meant to be pink.

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    1. I love he geraniums also, and I’m not complaining about them…just about either the mislabelling or the misinformation around flower colour. I’ve never heard about soil pg affecting anything other than Hydrangea blooms…and I’ve always assumed my soil is more alkaline (pink producing) than acidic, since it’s so full of limestone chunks. But I should test it to be sure, and then maybe yes…experiment a bit!

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  4. The brilliant red peony looks like the ‘flowers’ we used to make from Kleenex and pipe cleaners. It was somehow satisfying to do a search and discover that those homemade flowers still are a thing.

    That pink lupine knocked me out. That’s one of the prettiest pinks I’ve seen: not a hint of bubble gum with that one.

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  5. That is a grand peony, even if confusing to pollinators. Peonies are rare here because they do not perform so well. I never see any that look like that of the second picture.

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      1. “eh?”? I needed to translate that from Canadian. Anyway, I still would not be familiar with the peony, even if more recognizable. Even the common sorts are rare here. I would like to grow them, and may eventually try the common ‘Festiva Maxima’, because it seems to be one of the three less finicky cultivars in regard to the mild climate here.

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  8. I’d argue that your first geranium is in fact Geranium x magnificum, I have the Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Ingwersen’s Variety’ and it is very different. Quite a distinctive smell (the leaves which are very soft and create a mound) and very definitely pink flowers. You can see a couple of photos of it in this post.

    Six on Saturday | Spring is marching on

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  12. I have a very similar bearded Iris that a friend gifted me, and I’m not sure of the name, either. Love it, though, and it has a pleasant scent. The Geraniums and Peonies are wonderful, too–such bright colors!

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  13. Lovely sumptuous June flowers and fabulous photos. I think you have Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Bevan’s Variety’ rather than ‘Ingwersen’s Variety’

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    1. Definitely not Ingwersen’s Variety…I’m not sure though that it’s Bevan’s Variety though…the colour seems a bit darker than the photos I see on-line?

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  14. In spite of being the wrong colour for you, I love your geraniums, my favourite blue! Also rather like your iris even though my soil is too wet to grow that variety.

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    1. I love the Geraniums also! It’s interesting how some Iris loves wet soil – yellow flag Iris ie..but the tall bearded definitely needs well draining soil, don;t they?

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