I am glad you asked this question, because I was wondering the same thing. I am going to sow them this year to interplant with petunia.

Does anybody know how long they stay in bloom each season? Is it as long as petunia?

I've had 'Royal Ensign' and it is a beautiful blue. I love the flowers, but...the plant itself really looked bad by August. I don't know if it was mildew or what, but the leaves were awful. It didn't grow into a bushy shape either, it sprawled. I tried it 2 yrs because I really loved the flowers, but after a 2nd bad year with the leaves, I gave up. I've read that some gardeners have had good results with them, but it seemed like I read more negative results than good ones. It did bloom from mid to late June thru the summer. By the end of summer I had pulled most of the plants out because they just didn't look good. Maybe 'Blue Enchantment' is better, I don't know. Hope someone else has tried it.

Kat

Thanks, Kat. You are not far from me, so the climate must be the same. I'll give them a try anyway since I already got the seeds. I'll just enjoy them while they last then pull them as you said. The colors and form are really beautiful. They should look good with petunia and pale signet Marigold.

I grew the 'Royal Ensign' and had the same experience with it, unruley growth habit. I found if it gets to long (and it does have the tendency to look good only at the ends of the sprawling stems) I cut it back to about 1 foot and this forces new growth along the stem. Mine ended up looking pretty good, prolific bloomer and fantastic color. If I grew this again I would interplant it among other plants so when its cut back its not too noticable, I had a nice patch of garden with no color for a couple of weeks, no big deal but a lesson learned. Janet

Anyone know how wide the Blue Enchantment gets.

I'd hate to put them in a bed that is too small to let them sprawl.