geranium "Rozanne"

I have a Rozanne that has spread nicely in a shady rock garden. It blooms beautifully in late May-early June. However, I have not been able to get it to bloom any later. Folks that have success with Rozanne posted in the plantsfiles that their's bloom all the way to September. What am I doing wrong? I assume I should cut back all the dead blooms (maybe some of the greenery too?) and fertilize. I'd like input on this, please. If I need to shear it way back, I will do that right away.........Betty

Betty, Mine is quite stingy with blooms as well. I hope we can get some good ideas. Glad you asked this question.

I love 'Rozanne' and it seems like it is always in bloom from late May-early June until very hard fall frosts. Possibly a silly question, but are you sure it is actually 'Rozanne'? There are many other blue cranesbills that will only flower 4-6 weeks in early summer and not usually repeat, like 'Johnson's Blue', 'Brookside' or 'Orion'. All of these are also wonderful and beautiful, just don't expect them to bloom non-stop throughout the season.

I have 'Rozanne' in the sun and in the shade. She is a bit sparser and lankier in the shade, but blooms are still steady all season long. One of the things I really like about this cultivar is that blooms gradually become more and more numerous as the season progresses as the plant continues to grow and branch out and form buds at almost all of the leaf nodes. A lot of people complain about her untidy growth habit, but she should be used as a garden weaver growing out from underneath and through other plants rather than as a true specimen.

It could also be that you purchased your plant from a bad tissue culture batch in which the repeat-flowering gene was mutated somehow.

Could you post a picture of your plant?

There are for sure lots of things to like about "Rozanne". But I do notice that it seems to need more moisture than I would have thought to keep looking its best.

I'm sure it's Rozanne. That's what I meant to order and I put a metal marker on it as soon as I planted it. It has spread nicely. I doubt it ever lacks for rain because we live in a virtual rain forest here in the southern Applachians.
I bought Rozanne specifically because it was a continuous bloomer. So what do you think? Should I shear it back and fertilize it and hope it reblooms?

Shearing back 'Rozanne' will control the growth habit if it gets too rangy looking, but it will not really stimulate it to bloom. This cultivar is sterile (although some rumors of it forming seeds do exist) and so no deadheading should ever really be needed to stimulate bloom production. I find that letting it grow naturally will encourage more and more blooms since its forms buds from almost all of the leaf nodes and branching points throughout the season.

Could the nursery have sent the wrong plant? Also, what are temperatures like in your area? Last year, my plants struggled but still managed to bloom a little bit during the weeks of 90-100+ degree weather last season, but picked up with renewed vigor as soon as the temperatures cooled off in early fall.

It doesn't sound like lack of rain or moisture is the issue. Maybe they are getting so much water and your soil is so fertile that they are just happy to produce vegetative growth rather than go through the effort of forming buds? :-) Maybe they need some tough love, LOL!

I wish I had a better answer for you. I am becoming quite fond of all of these hardy geraniums! :-)

What do your fertilize it with? What about Miracle Gro?

Mine came from Bluestone Perennials. I believe it's the true Rozanne.

I have used Miracle Grow, too, but sometimes I give them bone meal as our soil is low is phosphates here.
We're in the mountains so our temps and pretty cool. At our house the warmest temperature I've ever seen was 85 deg. In town, it is 1,000 feet lower in altitude and in a valley so they see temps in the 90s.
I got my Rozanne from Bluestone too and believe it really is Rozanne. But it has never had any blooms except in the late spring. So I did shear them back and fertilized them. We will see what happens.

Please let us know.

How much bone meal did you put around it? Did you put it on top and then watered it it or work it into the soil itself with a garden tool?

I worked it in a little. The plant is in a wall garden and is about 2-1/2 long. I use about 3/4 cup. I guess I'm going to have to get a picture.

What if it's something different than soil, fertilizer, etc.? How about not enough sun? My Rozanne are in part sun, they get quite a bit of indirect light and then direct sun from 2 - 4 pm, approximately. I have had a Rozanne just 6 feet away from this area not bloom b/c it was getting too much sun and had to move that one. It was getting very near full sun. I would really think about how much sun it is getting and judge from there. I have also had her in too much shade and the results were similar to your results, again, only a few feet away in the other direction. Makes a big difference. Too much sun and she'll start having red spots, too little and not enough blooms, but when you get her right, she's glorious. Mine blooms until frost in that part sun spot, amended clay soil, never dried out, but drainage is not too bad there. I have never ever cut her back. Hope that helps.

I have two that are in pretty much full sun. They bloom all summer and into Fall. I rarely do anything to them, not even fertilize. They get gangly as the summer goes on, and one of them spills over the raised bed it is in. I kind of like this spill over effect and I rarely cut them back. They are just ever blooming and low maintenance here.

I have 3 Rozannes. One is blooming its head off on a dry-ish rocky ledge on one side of a path that runs south to north. On the other side of the path, nary a flower yet this season from the other two. Other plantings are taller there, maybe they are being shaded out? I'm going to try potting them up and moving them around to see how much difference that makes.

Full sun in zone 5 is wayyyyy different than full sun in North Carolina zone 7, keep that in mind.

well, it bloom very nicely in the spring but not afterwards. It is pretty shady but I bought it because the catalog said "part shade." I have come to believe that instruction actually mean that it can handle a little shade.

Here are some happy Rozannes near Seattle, in late August. They will continue to grow and bloom until frost here. Each of these is a single plant. The first has sprawled 8 feet across, the second has clambered 6 feet up a shrub, and is swallowing a tree peony after eating a Heather and a few other things. They get morning sun only, are on a gentle slope and get watered every few weeks. I might have fertilized but I doubt it. Soil is clay and rocks, rare mulch. I never deadhead, never cut them back until spring when they each are whacked off to the ground.
As you see they are pretty neglected but grow anyway- likely the difference is climate-Seattle is cool and dry in summer. We had 0.9" rain last night, before that we got 0.7' in mid June, and before that it was mid May ! I think they have more rain in summer in Arizona.
The tag says 12-20" tall, and 18-24" wide-Hah!

I think they must like dry neglect. I have one blooming its head off, no supplemental water and a fair amount of sun. The other 2 are in the facing bed and have done nothing at all. I think the difference is more sun, even though they must have gotten very thirsty during our heat wave.

It's cool and wet here. I thought Seattle was pretty rainy too. Ah well, I guess there's just not enough sun.

Mine does bloom constantly but it's on the long, somewhat messy, ends that get the blooms. I cut it back hard about two or three weeks ago and no new blooms have appeared. It's in full sun with regular watering by the irrigation system. If it begins to bloom again I will post here. It hasn't been fed.

yes, it would nice to know but it's getting late in the season so you may have luck in time to beat frost.

Here is one of my Rozannes today. The mostly shady ones are done blooming, but the ones in full sun are still very pretty. The ones in the shade climbed up nearby shrubs to about 6 feet, but the ones in sun stay more sprawly, like the one in the photo here.

We're done for this year...

What a pretty photo, MLM...

I noticed today, I still have a couple of blooms on my Rozanne even with freezing night temps! I was pleased.

Just to let you all know....they can be divided but if it's a large specimen they might bite the dust. Hence, I found that dividing one that is only a few years old worked great.........and all lived..... One thing I know for sure is the deer like them too..... I also got mine from Bluestone.

Pix: Rozanne and Centranthus ruber

So, Kathy, did you just split the plant down the middle? I'm not sure what the roots look like.

If dividing, make sure you get some roots and keep it will watered. I have Rozanne but also have Jolly Bee - almost exactly the same plant. My JB was given to me by a friend who divided hers. When I transplanted JB, it wilted and looked awful for a while but did bounce back.Be patient and keep it watered.

Both Rozanne and JB bloom here from late Spring until the frost kills them in late October or November. I would say that both get some shade, at least a couple of hours a day, but are in full sun the rest of the time. Both are mulched. And sometimes get some food and some times not!

Linda

I broke it into 8 or more pieces. The root gets massive, but sometimes it's possible to break off pieces with some roots.... I potted all of them and they continued forming more over the summer and all were planted in a new area in the backyard this fall, and my neighbor got 2 of them... The one that bit the dust was a large mass of roots and just didn't divide...lost the whole thing, that's why I suggested a plant that's not but a few yrs old.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Rozanne is a rambling plant. I have not cut it back and just waited until its Spring growth occurs. After that I just let it grow at its own pace, with no fertilizer or other treatment. The only other comment I should make is that the deer eat it often.

They ate mine so badly that I had to cut it to the ground. It rebounded very fast.