Geranium 'Boom Chocolatta'

Geranium 'Boom Chocolatta': Bronze Leaves Topped With Blue-Purple Blooms

Dark chocolate leaves with blue-purple flowers on top. It's dessert, and it's zero calories. 'Boom Chocolatta' is the only treat in the garden the deer and rabbits won't touch. MORE FOR US.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Geranium pratense 'Boom Chocolatta'
• Common Name: Hardy Geranium, Meadow Cranesbill
• Series: A Proven Winners® perennial
• Height: 61–66 cm (24–26 in)
• Spread: 71–76 cm (28–30 in)
• Flowers: Blue-purple, saucer-shaped, held over the top of the foliage
• Bloom Time: Early summer to late summer (June to August)
• Foliage: Deeply divided, dark bronze leaves on an upright, mounded habit
• Features: Rabbit resistant, tolerates short dry spells once established
• Plant Patent: USPP 32,026

Where to Plant: Use it mid-border, in a cottage garden, massed along a bed edge, or as the tall centrepiece in a big container. It handles cold winters and doesn't mind neutral to alkaline soil.

Companion Plants: The purple flowers of this geranium sit nicely beside Echinops ritro, whose round blue heads rise 90 to 120 cm from July to September. Hemerocallis Happy Ever Appster™ 'Apricot Sparkles' brings warm apricot blooms at the front from June to September. Anemone 'Whirlwind' takes over late in the season with white flowers from August to October at 90 to 100 cm. All three handle full sun or part sun, so the bed keeps blooming from early summer into fall.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun to part sun, in average to fertile, well-drained soil. Water regularly through the first season. After that, average moisture keeps it happiest, though it can handle a short dry spell. Cut the plant back after its first big bloom. Fresh leaves fill in quickly and more flowers usually follow. Clean up old foliage in late fall or early spring. Divide every few years in spring or early fall if the clump gets crowded.

History: 'Boom Chocolatta' joined the Proven Winners® perennial line, introduced through Walters Gardens in Michigan, around 2022. Its species, Geranium pratense, is the meadow cranesbill of Europe and Asia, named for its long, beak-shaped seed pods.

Final Thoughts: Plant it next to something gold and watch the contrast go off like fireworks. The bees will be first in line. NO SPOON REQUIRED.