I am a huge fan of Geranium ‘Rozanne’. Here’s a plant that’s gotten tons of press in the last few years (tons of press for a plant at least!), winning all kinds of plant-y awards and generally being the plant world’s Paris Hilton. Except ‘Rozanne’? She actually deserves the attention.
She blooms gorgeously from her first few stalks in spring, keeping it going with increasing intensity until the nights get really cold in winter. Even in December, she’s still putting out new foliage and blossoms around the masses of old foliage left!
‘Rozanne’ gets on famously with any number of plants – she can hide the gawky bases of roses, or you make the most of her white flower center by partnering her with the white-flowered Philadelphus x ‘Snowbelle’. You can also highlight the blue by contrasting it with bright golden foliage like Golden Sweet Flag Grass, an evergreen favorite of mine.
In the fall, a little touchup keeps your ‘Rozanne’ fresh until winter dormancy takes over.
Check out this video on how to prune your Hardy Geraniums:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
please tell me what to do with my rozannes – i planted a ton of them and they are all lying down on the ground – really leggy – and its only july 4th – should i prune them even though they are blooming beautifully? i hate the way they look lying down like that – it is ugly
Are they getting enough sunshine and water, Kim? Either problem would account for legginess. Or if they’re new, that would account for it too – give them a full year to settle into a finer habit.
Until then, yes, head back each leggy stem by 1/3 or half, cutting to a point where there’s a leaf or side shoot. If you need to, don’t be shy about removing some stems entirely by cutting them out at the base of the plant.
Rozanne’s not going to be offended by too much pruning, it’s just a matter of doing so in a way that doesn’t make her look terrible after, so don’t just take the shears to her – prune her with your hand pruners. But she’ll recover quickly from pruning as long as you prune to a side shoot or leaf and don’t just leave bare stems sticking up. You get get a lot of legginess taken care of this way and encourage a bushier habit for the rest of the year.