Geranium Rozanne - flowers for months!

Who doesn't love blue Geraniums!  We all used to have Geranium "Johnsons blue", which is very pretty, but it doesn't tend to last long, nor repeat flower.  This one called Rozanne, with a white centre, and spreads to around 60cm wide and high, so plant to allow space to grow into. It is well behaved, stays nice and neat, and flowers for a very long time. The only drawback is that in spring the foliage can look similar to creeping buttercup...... so be careful not to weed it out!

It was shortlisted for the Chelsea Plant of the Centenary for the decade 1993-2002, and won the public vote.

As a garden designer it is my  blue geranium of choice, since I  know it is a great performer. Like all Geraniums, a chop back in mid July will extend its flowering season right through till October.

Pretty as a peach

I bought a set of 3 metal rusty Poppy Seed heads a few years ago at Hampton Court Flower Show.  I did some clearing our recently of the planting in the area because of pesky ground elder. Some of my new planting included these Digitalis (Foxgloves), which are a peachy colour.   With the evening light in particular, they look great with the tones of the rust on the Poppy heads.

Most Foxgloves are biennial. This means that it takes the plant two years to mature to produce flowers. Once flowered, they set their seeds, then die. So, to keep the plants for future years it's important not to remove all of the little seedlings that will grow around their base. Another idea is to cut off the flower stems, once their seeds are ripe, and carry them carefully to another area of the garden then turn upside down and sprinkle the seeds in any gaps you have.