We need to talk about Rozanne

Rozanne has started to be a problem recently.  She’s a bit of a bully, is always after attention, and doesn’t let anyone else join in.  Rozanne of coure is the nation's favourite Geranium - perennial plant of the year in 2008 and voted as plant of the centenary by RHS members in 2013.

The real problem we have with her at Genus HQ is her size.  She grows to over waist height blocking out anything growing behind her and, if not staked, sprawls across the lawns leaving unsightly dead patches.  Consequently we’re looking for replacements. ‘Azure Rush’ is a possibility with almost identical flowers and far less vigour.  ‘Elworthy Eyecatcher’ is pink but has large flowers and a long flowering period. We’ve looked at ‘Orion’ which has similar flowers to ‘Rozanne’ but have seen several reports that it can also reach quite epic proportions.  Lesser known ‘Bloom me Away’ sounds like a promising candidate with similar blue flowers but only reaching around 45cm in height.

The last option is a cultural one.  Maybe we should remove some of Rozanne’s vigour by cutting her totally to the ground in late May - a brutal Chelsea Chop if you like.  We’re going to put up with her for now but a decision will need to be made this autumn.