Singing the Geranium Blues

If you haven’t yet explored the many types of hardy geraniums, you’re missing some amazing garden plants.  By staggering varieties and bloom times, you can enjoy these cheerful blooms from spring to fall.

Hardy geraniums, also known as Cranesbill, are generally carefree plants that tolerate some shade and do best in rich humusy soil.  The larger ones make excellent middle of the border plants while the smaller varieties look best softening the garden’s edge.  Hardy geraniums generally have a mounding habit with round, open flowers that bloom on long wiry stems.  I like to think of these plants as “fillers” as they tend to weave and tumble through surrounding plants, filling in any available space and creating that flouncy “cottage garden” look I adore.  They are not all blue, of course, but I love shades of blue with all the pinks, purples, reds, yellows and oranges that make up my summer gardens.  Below, I will showcase some of the most popular blue varieties.

There are some plants that deserve a gold star for effort and hardy geranium “Rozanne” is certainly one!  It’s mid-October here in Northeast Massachusetts and most of the perennial garden is looking ready for a long winter’s nap, that is, except for Rozanne.  After a few nights already in the low 30’s, just missing a freeze, this prolific bloomer is still partying on while everybody else in the garden has already gone to bed.  Rozanne begins flowering here in late June and continues on and on until frost.

Slightly larger in size, another favorite blue geranium of mine is “Orion” which blooms in June well before Rozanne and has a similar purple-blue color and habit.  Although Orion generally flowers for only a couple of months (still an amazingly long time by perennial standards), it’s another prodigious bloomer that is simply stunning next to the early yellow daylily “Happy Returns.”  The photo above is a good example of how this serene blue complements every surrounding color.

A few years ago I was fortunate to have some “Dragon Heart” which is a large and vigorous hardy geranium with a deeper purple hue and dark veining.  Unfortunately, the plants were in my vegetable garden in full sun and succumbed to one very hot, dry summer.  Dragon Heart is another early bloomer that I paired with pink roses and sparkling Allium Christophii (Star of Persia) for a lovely early summer vignette.

One of the most popular blue geraniums dating back to the 1950’s is “Johnson’s Blue.”  As shown in the photo, this lower-growing, periwinkle blue geranium makes a lovely groundcover for the garden’s edge and, with enough sun, the foliage turns a striking red in fall.

Here are some hardy geranium facts:

• Perfect cottage garden companions
• Can be used as groundcovers
• Tolerate full sun to partial shade
• Prefer humusy, compost rich soil
• Range from 12 to 20 inches in height and can spread up to 24 inches
• Many boast colorful autumn foliage
• Most are reliably heavy bloomers
• Grow best in Hardiness Zones 4 – 9

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