I too used to very much like "Rozanne" but now after 3 years I find it too large, too sprawling and needing more water than I would like to give, for it to look its best.

Hopefully there will soon be a cultivar that is ever blooming like "Rozanne" but much more upright and compact.

campanula I am very interested to hear of your experiences with "Havana Blues" as I planted 4 bare root specimens earlier this summer as part of a border. It wont be until next season to see if it really performs as advertised i.e. long, extended blooming on a compact plant. Here is a picture of one of mine taken today:

I love it. I love how it blooms all summer and now it twines and spreads. Here it is making itself at home with some phlox and hydrangeas.

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Good picture mostone. I assume that someone has made lots of royalties for 'Rozanne' as everyone and his uncle has one and every nursery stocks tons of them.

But think of potential sales for a Rozanne like plant ie flowers all summer but at half or even a third of the size...perfect for small residential gardens.

I haven't divided mine and it hasn't lost any vigor in the 7-8 years I've had it. Trampled by critters a bit as it sprawls, but still going strong.

tj

I have grown both Jolly Bee and Rozanne. All my Jolly Bees survived, but the 2 Rozannes I tried both died their first winters, 2 succeeding years.

That is interesting nhbabs. I was under the impression that these two varieties were indistinguishable. Anyways my 'Rozanne' thrives on benign neglect in clay soil. It attains sprawling dimensions of 6 feet across and 2.5 feet in height.

Rozanne and Jolly Bee are the name plant. The Jolly Bee name is no longer on the market because of this.

Thanks for everyone's feedback. Typically perennials of vigor demand dividing so I'm glad I won't have to do so with these.

I love it but I like a more cottage garden style. It serves as a beautiful long blooming ground cover vs that red ugly mulch stuff. It has been in the same spot for 4 years.

I have taken some of the runners and added to other gardens. It roots easy. I have never had to dig it up and divide.

I give a big thumbs up to Rozanne! I'm another one with a cottage style garden, and I love the way it blooms for so long while it mingles with everything around it.

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Sandy, that is beautiful! I bought four or five of these a month ago. They seem to get bigger than I expected...I spread them out in a 13 x2 foot area (sort of). I will also have bleeding hearts there and other things. If they get too crowdedness years to one, I assume I can move them. I really like that pic of them with the daylilies!

Thx for the nice comment. The first year my Rozanne was a nice clump that spread out a bit. The second year and every year after it exploded. It grows up and out much bigger than I expected, and I really like it. You'll get a lot of bang for you buck with 4-5 of them.

I have both Jolly Bee and Rozanne. Jolly Bee is in a place where I welcome it sprawling. Rozanne, not so much. Many of the plants in her area have gotten much larger and she tumbles around and even over some, causing them to not get enough sun. So, I experimented and cut her way back some weeks ago. She has not missed a beat and has grown new leaves and is blooming again in a smaller size. I really should move her or re-home her. Rozanne just gets too large for the spot where she is.

Rozanne and Jolly Bee are both great plants and bloom here all the way until frost.

Linda

Havana Blues may be a little bit more compact than Rozanne.....but not much. The flowers are bigger though, and the veining is particularly pronounced. For a compact wallichianum type, Sweet Heidy or Rise and Shine might be a better bet. Blooms of Bressingham also have a nice cultivar, Azure rush. Currently obsessing over Crystal Lake, as a kind of reverse Rozanne (darker centre, lighter edging).
Oh yeah, the leaves of HB start off quite an odd acid green but get a bit quieter as the season goes on.

Thanks of the reply campanula. My objective is to find a geranium very hardy to zone 5 which has a very significant flowering period (like 'Rozanne') but much less sprawling. It was my understanding after doing much web research that 'Havana Blues' was the one.

campanula has it been your experience that the size of your HB is still quite large? I ask as I actually made contact with the developer of HB. He stated that it has been his significant experience that the maximum dimensions of the HB geranium is 60cm in diameter and 40cm in height. For sure these #s are significantly smaller than those of a full grown 'Rozanne'. I have my fingers crossed.

well, if you look at the supposed dimensions of Rozanne, they never exceed 90cm x 60cm....and measurements of 60cm x 40cm are routinely expressed.but mine is well over 3X that size with no especially treatment. Generally, when these measurements are addressed, they (plant breeders) count a significant area of crown and allow for a bit of outflung straggling. Well HB is still has that scandent habit but (so far) seems to remain a little bit tighter around the main crown, only throwing 4 or 5 longer stems. Time will tell, but Rozanne definately seems to get bigger, year on year, even though the crown remains quite tiny. I can only speculate a humongous root system underneath the soil and would be tempted to take Van Noort's estimate with a largeish pinch of salt.
Stick with Sweet Heidy - this one really seems to remain mannerly....or, G.procurrens 'Blue Sunrise' - another promising long flowering geranium.

Given that I have 4 first year "Havana Blues" in the ground I wont yet jump to "Sweet Heidy" or "Blue Sunrise". We shall see how HB come through this coming winter.

Thanks, everyone, for the info!

I just noticed that my "Rozanne" now looks better than it has for most of the summer. I had done some selective pruning a couple of weeks back and that has helped.

I've noticed that the severe pruning I gave Rozanne has not hurt her in the least. I plan on pruning her again next year to keep her in bounds, rather than moving her to a different spot.

Linda

Just a question on the Rozanne -- should I cut the dead flowers off? Will that encourage new growth?

Once it gets going this plant flowers so profusely it would be hard to pick out the dead flowers! Just let it do its stuff.

Ah thank you Rouge! I just planted Rozanne a week or so ago into a large container on my balcony. I'm really loving the beauty of this one!!!

Rouge, I'm curious how Havana Blues did for you last year? I've been reading all of the hardy geranium posts lately and everyone is zeroed in on tighter habit, but not the long blooming period like Rozanne. I want both! And no pink!

Wonder if anyone has an update of Blue Sunrise?

Considering I planted them as small bare root plants they did very well. However I am not convinced how much if any more compact they are than "Rozanne". They did make it through their first winter but it took a while to see that green growth. I will be able better be able to judge their habit in this their second year.

Supposedly "Azure Rush" may be a better behaved "Rozanne" (see link).

Here is a link that might be useful: Azure Rush