Geum, sometimes referred to as Avens, is certainly not one of the most popular perennials. However, it has been grown in gardens for several years.
Its colorful flowers are reminiscent of miniature roses and bloom freely for several weeks in early summer and late spring.
Geum is undoubtedly an extroverted perennial – Graham Stuart Thomas aptly proclaimed Geum to be “one of the happiest plants of early summer“. And yet, Geum is rare in modern gardens until recently.
Geum is a species that belongs to the Rosaceae family (rose). These flowers are widespread in Africa, New Zealand, Europe, Asia, North and South America.
There are around fifty species[1] of this plant. Geum is a tussock-forming perennial that typically forms a mound of basal foliage (up to 6″ tall) of medium green, 5 to 7 petal, hairy, irregularly lobed leaves with extremely large terminal leaflets.
In spring, upright, filiform, branchy, flowering stems rising above the leaves with 5-leaf tips, brick red to orange-red (up to 1.5″ in diameter) flowers with clusters of yellow stamens. The main flowering is from May to July.
