Hardy Geranium (Cranesbill) Phaeum, more commonly known as dusky crane’s-bill, mourning widow or black widow, is an herbaceous plant cultivar part of the Geraniaceae family. Well known as being an incredibly useful and dependable geranium makes it an indispensable plant for gardeners.
A hardy strong growing species, it has the most distinctive eye-catching purple-black flowers with petals turned back appearing in late spring above a mounded mass of attractive deciduous foliage.
The lax clumps of upright stems are topped with mid green leaves which occasionally have chocolate coloured markings. This variety is known for its versatility with ability to grow in shade and some of the most inhospitable places, making it a great ground cover solution.
The names “mourning widow” and “black widow” have been given to this geramium due to its dark brooding colours and flowers that resemble bonnets worn by widows holding their heads down, also the fact that they do well in the shade. It has to be said that Geranium Phaeum is far from a sad plant depicted by these names, with its dark beauty and easy maintenance, it is rather more a joy.
A fantastic plant in perennial borders, this average to fast growing deciduous geranium reaches about 80cm high with a 45cm spread, growing in most soils provided they are not waterlogged. To encourage new foliage and flowers it is advisable to cut flowered stems and old leaves to the base just after flowering. The best time to lift and divide mounds of geranium is in the spring.
These are sold in pots allowing all year planting subject to availability. Please call our offices if you would like any help working out quantities required or any further information.
Delivery leadtimes update- March/April 2024
We are working at maximum capacity to fulfil all orders as quickly as possible but owing to unprecedented demand some orders will take longer:
– Orders containing only bare root plants – delivery is currently within 5-7 days
– All other orders – delivery is currently within 2-3 weeks
Delivery is free for most orders above our free delivery thresholds, these are displayed above our prices in the product listings and summarized below. If you don’t need that many plants it’s not a problem, you can choose to pay our delivery charge and only order what you need.
Delivery is convenient – no signature is required so you don’t need to wait in, we will leave your parcel in the safe place that you nominate.
Delivery is fast – because we pick orders daily from our own growing beds your plants only travel the small hop to our packing shed before being sent to you, they are usually delivered within 3-7 days.
Delivery is reliable – we have been selling and delivering Hedging Plants to our customers nationwide since 1992. We have a lot of experience in packing them safely and only use tried and tested delivery partners.
Smaller Plants (Parcel Delivery)
| Location | Order Value | Price |
| UK Mainland excluding Highlands | Up to £90 | £15.00 |
| UK Mainland excluding Highlands | Over £90 | Free |
| Scottish Highlands and Isle of Wight | All orders | £24.00 |
Heavy Plants (Pallet Delivery)
| Location | Order Value | Price |
| UK Mainland excluding Highlands | Up to £420 | £72.00 |
| UK Mainland excluding Highlands | Over £420 | Free |
| Scottish Highlands and Isle of Wight | All orders | £72.00 |
Tall Plants 2.5m+ (Specialist Delivery)
| Location | Order Value | Price |
| UK Mainland excluding Highlands | Under £1800 | Please call us |
| UK Mainland excluding Highlands | Over £1800 | Free |
| Scottish Highlands and Isle of Wight | All orders | Not available |
Exceptions to our delivery charges are Scottish Highland and Isle of Wight delivery areas where we need to charge a little extra to cover the cost of deliveries to these outlying areas. We don’t currently delivery to other offshore addresses including Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.
Tall plants over 2.5 metres have to be delivered by our own specialised transport, our delivery area is limited to mainland England and Wales only.
Please note there is a minimum order value of £50 for orders containing smaller plants and £250 for orders containing heavier plants
Complete delivery information can be viewed on our Delivery Information page
