Bloody Geranium - the county flower of Northumberland

Northumberland is a county with a landscape still rich in diversity, from salt marsh to open woodland, stretches of sand dunes to meadows, as well as rare grassland habitats on the Great Whin Sill (a layer of igneous rock forming cliffs and outcrops near the coast). Conditions are often harsh, particularly along the coast where the North Sea makes its presence felt year-round. As such, it makes perfect sense that the county flower of Northumberland be as tough as old boots!

Geranium sanguineum

Known as bloody cranesbill or bloody geranium, it is a species of hardy flowering herbaceous perennial in the cranesbill family (Geraniaceae), found in grassland, sand dunes and open woodland on calcareous soils. Between May and October, you will see huge banks of the flower across the county, but particularly around the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Here in Berwick-upon-Tweed, you can see the vivid pink/purple flower in hedgerows as well as by the river and along the cliff tops.

The bloody cranesbill gets its name from the beak-like seed capsule, reminiscent of the long beak of a Crane. 'Bloody' comes from the the Latin 'sanguineus' and is a reference not to the colour of the flowers, but the stalks and seed capsules, which turn bright red as summer progresses.

Coostie Illustration & Design Logo - featuring the Bloody Cranesbill

You can tell I'm a fan of the flower, as I included it in my logo - I wanted to demonstrate that a lot of my work is inspired by the natural environment of Northumberland and that I tend to draw detailed pen illustrations - and this flower answers that admirably.

You can also see a mixed media piece of artwork I created for something called The Bellwether Project, an art project inspired by the environment and our care for the natural world run by Museums Northumberland during the Covid-19 pandemic. The project involved seven online workshops looking at using different media and inspired by the various habitats of the county, from woodland to meadows and the seashore.

The flower also featured in a surface pattern design I created, called 'Border Blooms'. This is an Art Deco-style design featuring the Bloody Cranesbill, county flower of Northumberland, alongside the Rock Rose, county flower of Berwickshire on the other side of the Scottish-English border - 2 miles north of where I live.

My ‘Border Blooms’ design is available to purchase from my Spoonflower store on a range of fabric and as ready-made home decor items, from curtains to cushions.

I'm sure I'll be coming back to the Bloody Geranium for inspiration for many years to come.