Geum
Totally Tangerine
“The longest-flowering geum, with four months of soft apricot blooms on wiry stems. Sterile hybrid means all energy goes to flowers. Costs less than a coffee and gives more than most plants ten times the price.”
— ROSIE
Rosie's Take
I resisted Geum 'Totally Tangerine' for longer than I should have. The name put me off — it sounds like a paint colour from a DIY store, or a cocktail you'd regret ordering. But then I saw it flowering in someone's front garden in late May, and I understood immediately. The colour isn't tangerine at all, not really. It's a soft, peachy apricot that glows in the border like a warm lamp. Not brash, not loud, not the screaming orange the name suggests. Just this gentle, luminous warmth.
The flowers are single, about an inch and a half across, held on slender, wiry stems that sway and nod above a clump of hairy, scalloped leaves. They have the casual charm of a wildflower — nothing formal, nothing fussed over. Each petal has a translucent quality, catching the light like tissue paper, and at the centre there's a ring of golden stamens that bees adore.
What makes this geum exceptional is how long it flowers. Most geums give you a flush in May and June and then call it a day. 'Totally Tangerine' keeps going — not continuously, but in waves — from late May right through to September. That's four months of those soft apricot flowers drifting above the foliage. For a perennial that costs less than a coffee, it's absurdly generous.
It's a sterile hybrid, which means it puts all its energy into flowering rather than setting seed. Plant it in sun or light shade, in reasonable soil, and leave it alone. It's not fussy. Every autumn I look at the clump and think I should divide it, and every spring it comes back strong enough that I don't bother. The most low-maintenance plant in my garden, and quietly one of the most beautiful.
✿ From the folklore cabinet
Geums are members of the rose family, which you'd never guess from looking at them — the modest little flowers bear no resemblance to their glamorous cousins. 'Totally Tangerine' was bred by Tim Crowther, a British nurseryman who crossed two species to produce this sterile hybrid. It won the RHS Award of Garden Merit and became one of the most popular perennials in Britain almost overnight. The name 'geum' comes from the Greek 'geuo,' meaning 'to give a pleasant flavour' — the roots of some species smell of cloves when dried, and were once used to flavour ale. I've never tried it. I suspect I never will.
