View full sizeErodium x variabile 'Bishop's Form'How plants get their common names is beyond me. Take, for instance,
Erodium
, my Plant of the Week, which goes by the nickname of cranesbill, storksbill and heronbill. Now, this inches-high ground cover with thumb-size flowers looks nothing at all like a bird of any sort, let alone a tall, long-legged, skinny-beaked crane.
Whatever the name, though, I love the plant.
a hybrid between
E. reichardii
and
E. corsicum
, is the toughest,
View full sizeDo these cranes look anything like cranesbill? I don't think so.prettiest, most adaptable ground cover I've ever grown. As anyone who reads this blog knows, pink is at the bottom of my list of preferred colors. But I make an exception for 'Bishop's Form' (which is the easiest to find) as well as
and
The white-flowered ones, such as
and
edge them out, though.
I've learned
Erodium
adapts easily to different situations. I've grown it in part shade with pretty regular water. I've grown it in almost full sun with regular water. But most useful for me, is the vigor of 'Bishop's Form' on a hot, broken concrete wall that gets very little moisture. It has more than exceeded my expectations. The sweet, five-petalled flowers never give up. They bloom from July through first frost. The only thing I could wish for is faster growth. But that's easy to solve by planting them closer together.
Next, I'm going to grow one in a trough.
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