The Ballerina Cranesbill, otherwise known as the Geranium Cinereum ‘Ballerina’ or Gerbera Daisy, Transvaal Daisy, Barberton Daisy, Gerber Daisy, is a rather well known perennial plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this perennial will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its gray-green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, taking care of your Ballerina Cranesbill is not too difficult – as long as you follow our guidelines in this Ballerina Cranesbill Care Guide. Now let’s get started.
The fundamental caring guidelines for every Ballerina Cranesbill can be summed up into the following:
- Water: The Ballerina Cranesbill needs evenly spread moist soil – try to avoid letting the soil dry out.
- Light: Keep your Geranium Cinereum ‘Ballerina’ in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Ballerina Cranesbill in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, chalk, and loam.
And as with many other plants, these are the only three care factors you need to remember to make sure your Ballerina Cranesbill is, for the most part, healthy and well to survive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Ballerina Cranesbill belongs to the Asteraceae family, the genus Gerbera and the species Jamesonii, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Geranium Cinereum ‘Ballerina’ (jer-AE-nee-um sin-NEE-ree-um).
As with other Gerbera’s, the Ballerina Cranesbill is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Ballerina Cranesbill is a plant native to the Northern Prov. to Eswatini.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Ballerina Cranesbill. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Geranium Cinereum ‘Ballerina’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 6 – 11 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 8b, 8a, 9b, 9a, 10b, 10a and the ideal climate zone is between 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, H1, H2.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Ballerina Cranesbill is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Ballerina Cranesbill? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Geranium Cinereum ‘Ballerina’ can grow up to 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) and 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm).
These dimensions make the Ballerina Cranesbill a relatively medium perennial compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful spreading shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 24″ (60cm) free so the Ballerina Cranesbill can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Ballerina Cranesbill is a fairly complicated plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat irregular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Geranium Cinereum ‘Ballerina’ needs evenly spread moist soil – try to avoid letting the soil dry out.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Ballerina Cranesbill in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
In our experience, the famous ‘thumb’ or ‘finger’ test is what works best for the Ballerina Cranesbill since with it, you will be able to give it the right amount of water, every time – regardless of the environment or placement where you do decide to keep it.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Ballerina Cranesbill prefers to have soil with good drainage properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, chalk, and loam.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Ballerina Cranesbill requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this perennial will do well as long as you keep it in partial to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Geranium Cinereum ‘Ballerina’ in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a herbaceous plant, the Ballerina Cranesbill will die back to the ground every year.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Ballerina Cranesbill to flower around the summer and in the fall months from July to September (summer), and from October to December (fall).
In particular, this perennial is well known for its long bloom season and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Ballerina Cranesbill produces some beautiful pink, or pink, gold/yelloworange, and white flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Ballerina Cranesbill have a beautiful gray-green color during most of the year.
Garden
Does your Ballerina Cranesbill have any garden recommendations? Does it serve any gardening purposes? Here’s how you can get the most out of your new plant.
Most Geranium Cinereum ‘Ballerina’ owners agree that this perennial will look great in most cottage gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of coastal garden, informal and cottage, city and courtyard, cutting garden, and in mediterranean garden styles.
In particular, the Ballerina Cranesbill’s best location within your garden is in patio and containers, beds and borders, and in wall-side borders, others use it for landscaping in a container, rock garden, border, firescaping/fire wise, or a woodland garden.
Companion Plants
Ballerina Cranesbill’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Gaillardia, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Rudbeckia will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
Even though we covered a lot of care information for your Ballerina Cranesbill, remember the basics: sunlight, soil and water, as these should be enough to grow a healthy plant at home.
