Below are three photos taken last year in my borders.
No. 1 is of ROZANNE completely enveloping the hybrid muskrose “Penelope”, the spade is for scale.
Believe it or not, there was a court case fought over two geraniums,Geranium ROZANNE and Geranium JOLLY BEE. ROZANNE won. I suppose JOLLY BEE got stung with the costs and had to buzz off! Anyway, JOLLY BEE was a daft name to call a plant with blue flowers,with not a trace of black or yellow anywhere. The case was fought because of the commercial possibilities of this geranium. It starts flowering in mid June (in a normal year) and continues on right to the first heavy frost. Though it can get a bit sprawly on the sales bench, if cut back it will quickly re flower. Just as important, it can be sold with certainty, as a plant that will perform in the garden and not disappoint – which can not be said about a lot of “best sellers”.
Geranium ROZANNE is a sterile derivative of Geranium wallichianum ‘Buxton’s Blue’. ROZANNE is a trade name, its proper name is not very pronounceable, or more importantly, marketable, hence the capital letters rather than commas. ‘Buxton’s Blue’ is a cracking garden plant in its own right. It was always difficult to propagate as it has a tight woody rootstock that does not divide well, and it was generally grown from seed, so it really is a seed strain, rather than a clone. It starts into flower a bit later than ROZANNE and goes well into autumn. It has a neat creeping habit, quite flat to the ground. Its flowers are blue with a lovely pale centre, and its foliage is nicely mottled. ROZANNE is like ‘Buxton’s Blue’ on steroids, and the pale centre of its larger blue flowers really make it stand out, particularly in a dull north facing situation. In its first year it grows flat enough like its parent, but in subsequent years it starts to mound up, and it has no trouble growing over bigger plants, flowering profusely all the while (see photo). A good cutting back, say, in late July, will curb its exuberance, and it will be back flowering again in no time. It’s one of the small elite of perennials suitable for general landscaping, along with the ever reliable Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’.
There are a number of other Geranium walicianum derivatives coming on stream, I suppose to cash in on the success of ROZANNE. We’ve planted out one called SWEET HEIDI, with flowers more towards the purple, and no pale centre, but nice all the same. The wonders of modern micro propagation methods have made these plants available in large quantities and very handy for the licence holder too, in helping keep tabs on what’s produced. I suppose ‘Buxton’s Blue’ is now also done from tissue culture – easier than collecting and sowing seed.
Another geranium, normally produced by tissue culture, is Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’. Unlike ROZANNE its purple flowers have a dark almost black centre. This makes an eye catching contrast. I always regarded this plant as having red flowers until I saw them against the true red of a fuchsia. One of its parents is Geranium psilostemon. This makes a big plant with big flowers – one of the biggest of all hardy geranium flowers. But its flowering period is short as it sets seed. It’s a good plant where there is space and best in full sun. It self seeds for me and the seedlings are always welcome and potted up.
The infertile Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’ goes on flowering for the entire season, which is why it is so popular. It also has a bonus of golden young foliage, making a nice contrast with the dark flowers. It is not such a versatile plant as ROZANNE, not liking too much shade. It has an amazing scrambling habit, weaving in and out of its neighbours,with its distinctive flowers appearing in the most unlikely places. It’s never dense enough to actually smother other plants. A little bit of judicious pruning is all that is needed to control it. I generally don’t bother. I have a ten year old plant of it in my main herbaceous border, still as vigorous as ever after all that time. It never runs at the root. It covers a large area by the end of the season. It gets its scrambling habit from its other parent, Geranium procurrens. The problem with this geranium is that it roots at each node that touches the ground, like strawberry runners, making it difficult to control. Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’ got the best bits from both parents.
Finally another closely related Geranium, also named after a woman is Geranium ‘Anne Thomson’. This is supposedly a more compact and better behaved ‘Ann Folkard’ type geranium. I’ve planted a clump of it out last month to find out for myself. As is generally the case in gardening – seeing is believing!
Below are three photos taken last year in my borders.
No. 1 is of ROZANNE completely enveloping the hybrid muskrose “Penelope”, the spade is for scale.
No. 2 is of ROZANNE growing happily with a red astilbe, and the gorgeous hanging pink spikes of Sanguisorba obtusa just starting.This border is damp and south facing.
No. 3 is of Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’ holding its own against the much rougher native, Persicaria bistorta ‘Superba’.
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Source: HortiTrends News Desk
