Blooming now: Geum rivale 'Album'

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Geum rivale 'Album'

• English: Water avens
• Dutch: Knikkend nagelkruid
• German: Bach-Nelkenwurz
• French: Benoîte des ruisseaux

The name Geum can come from the Greek word; geuo, to give an agreeable flavour (to taste). The roots of some Geum species are aromatic. Rivale means; belonging to a stream. This is confirmed by the english name Water avens. The Dutch, knikkend nagelkruid; knikkend means nodding, but also used for something that is bent. Nagel-kruid=nail-herb, probably becouse the flower-leaves look like nails. German, Bach-Nelkenwurz means stream avens and Benoîte des ruisseaux as well. They all refer the stream, except the Dutch want to be different again.

The Geum rivale normal flower color is brown-red, but there are many varieties. The color range from reddish, yellowish to white. Here are some popular varieties.
'Album' 40cm high, white, blooming May-June.
'Beech House Apricot' 30cm high, apricot color, blooming May-September.
'Flames of Passion' 50cm high, bronze red, blooming April-August.
'Leonard's Variety' 30cm high, pink brown, blooming April-June.
'Lionel Cox' 30cm high, yellow green, blooming May-September.

On an other picture in the photoalbum you can see that when its finished blooming, they show seeds with a hook-like style. This makes it possible that animals spread the seeds. It is native to much of Europe (in the Netherlands it's on the red list), with the exception of Mediterranean areas, as well as some parts of Central Asia and North America.