When I first started writing about plants in these reviews, I concentrated on neglected treasures, until a reader complained that he could never find a single plant I described.Well, to obtain this plant, just look about in mid-June for a cranesbill geranium covered in blue flowers in someone’s garden, and if you know them even slightly, ask for a bit. I guess you can also buy it at garden centres. I’ve forgotten where ours came from. We have a road border covered in it and I won’t mind in the least if you pinch some.

Most of the hardy geraniums split readily, though few as readily as this one, which is a sterile hybrid and has therefore spread endlessly from a single clone. By contrast, a few true geraniums are very hard to propagate and are exchanged between enthusiasts for high prices; I always manage to kill them. Any gardener should be well satisfied with about ten good, indestructible varieties to fill spaces in the border and give away to passers-by.