Introducing...
Geum
Common name: Avens
From leafy rosettes, wiry stems bear flowers for a long period from late spring through summer. Their resemblance to buttercups gives a sense of spangled pasture to modern urban spaces where they can mix with salvias and grasses. They’re equally at home in cottage gardens, bringing an old-fashioned feel alongside aquilegias and campanulas.
Looks
Coming from semi-evergreen rosettes, thin stems bear saucer-shaped flowers, sometimes double, from late spring through summer, and sometimes into autumn. Flower colours range from fiery reds and oranges to pastel shades of peaches and yellows.
Likes
Plants will grow and flower well if they are divided every few years. Most geums like a sunny spot with soil that doesn’t dry out in summer. G. rivale, and cultivars of it, thrive in moisture retentive soil. However, some need free-draining soil, such as G. montanum, the alpine avens, and the slightly taller but also yellow-flowered alpine, G. pyrenaicum.
Dislikes
Most geums available for sale in garden centres dislike dry soil conditions. Alpine species are an exception, so do check before buying, to ensure you have the right type for your garden.
Did you know?
G. urbanum (wood avens/herb bennet) is a wildflower native to the UK. Its small yellow flowers are great for pollinators and its leaves are a food plant for caterpillars of the grizzled skipper butterfly.
Growing guide
How to grow geums
All the information you need to grow and care for geums in your garden
Geums we recommend
Geum 'Prinses Juliana'
avens 'Prinses Juliana'
- 0.1–0.5 metres
- 0.1–0.5 metres
Geum 'Lady Stratheden' (d)
avens 'Lady Stratheden'
- 0.1–0.5 metres
- 0.1–0.5 metres
Geum 'Prinses Juliana'
avens 'Prinses Juliana'
- 0.1–0.5 metres
- 0.1–0.5 metres
Geum 'Lady Stratheden' (d)
avens 'Lady Stratheden'
- 0.1–0.5 metres
- 0.1–0.5 metres
Useful advice
Perennials: dividing
How to plan a border
Perennials: cutting back
Deadheading plants
Get involved
The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.