PlantFiles: Himalayan Geranium, Lilac Cranesbill
Geranium 'Johnson's Blue'

Love, love, love this plant! I planted a few of these from bare-root 2 years ago. The plants blooms from May through the end of June, and are just gorgeous. They are so light and airy, and the flowers are a lovely blue-purple. When they are done blooming, I cut the plants down to the ground, and fresh dark green beautiful foliage emerges quickly for the rest of the summer, and then turns red for the fall. I think that this plant gives a garden a 'cottagy feel'. Highly recommend it.

Older cultivar that are still sold, at least one source said it had the bad habit of toppling over during flowering.

This will be my third year growing this plant. I adore it! Mine got about two feet high! I think that is because it is in almost full shade, in an area that stays perpetually moist. It is also has good drainage in sandy soil on a slight slope. I love its true-blue flowers!

This Cranesbill does very well in our shady and somewhat cool soil. It starts blooming in July and continues to bloom through November.

Ours has needed very little additional care, once they were moved from containers into the yard.

This geranium is sensitive to zone so it doesn't grow well above zone 8. It has few flowers and is rangy here. I try to stretch my zones sometimes but this didn't work in my zone 9 garden.

DFW zone 8b - Blooms beautifully in spring a vivid magenta color. withstands dry conditions and freezing temps well.
a perfect 'in betweener' spilling out from larger plants.

We inherited this unknown entity when we bought this house in September 2004. What a joy it's been! It was just covered with beautiful blossoms for months! Yes, it tends to sprawl, but I much prefer a casual garden to a formal one so that may be why I love this plant so much!

I am growing mine in a rather dry area where it is doing pretty well. The plant is leggy but planted among other plants, it can be an asset. The flowers are very pretty popping out unexpectely here and there.

'Johnson's Blue' is a very mannerly, yet, rugged plant that does well in our zone without any special protection. It graces the middle of a paver stone deck nestled comfortably next to a Feather Reed Grass 'Karl Foerster' (Calamagrostis acutiflora). They seem to really like each other.

Johnson's Blue is probably one of the easiest cranesbills to grow. I have found when I place a grow ring above it, it is much better behaved in spring. You can delay flowering in spring by pinching back, but I love the "blowsey" look with the grow ring. When the flowers start to fade, I shear it back, almost to the ground. It regrows much better behaved foliage, and sometimes will rebloom, but not as abundantly as the first bloom. I live in 5a/4b and have this plant on the east side of my home with fairly moist soil (courtesy of a close downspout). It has made babies a few times; since it's alongside a flagstone/pea gravel path, I have kept some, and dug & passed on the others.

It has been extremely rainy here in Michigan. The Johnson's Blue Geraniums I planted earlier this spring just started to bloom when they got flattened by a torrential rainstorm. They look as if they will continue to bloom a lot -- but it is an awfully messy looking plant.

I agree w/ Vidamc. Mine is leggy and huge. Heavy rains have made the center very bare, but its still a prolific bloomer.

Really like this plant, makes a clump about 14" high and stays nice looking all summer.

I bought this plant unmarked in an end of season sale last Fall here in Cincinnati (Zone6).
Half dried out, root-bound and ragged I think it went for a dollar.
I planted it in a ten inch pot and promptly forgot about it.
It was left in the open unprotected, by me, all winter.
It had a minimal leaf cover and whatever snowfall we had.
Temps dipped to 0 several times.

Come early Spring I got a flush of growth from a, I thought, bare dead pot.

Now it 15" tall and wide, in full bloom, and gorgeous.

It will be well protected this Fall for sure!!

This plant actually grows about 30" tall with a spread of approx 36" in my garden. It gets sheared (way too many blooms to deadhead) in the hottest part of summer then reblooms. I would actually prefer it to grow more compact, does anyone know if this can be cut back in the spring (like I do with garden mums) to create a tighter growing plant?

They like moist, well- drained soil; organic soils promote spread. Give plenty of water during hot spells to keep the blooms coming. Shear after blooming to rejuvenate and they will rebloom. One neat feature of 'Rozanne' is that the foliage turns reddish-brown in Fall. Divide in Spring when clumps show signs of crowding (approximately every 4 years).

Vigorous grower, but in our Nor. Ca. dry summers, it dies back. Revives when watered again, however. To keep it evergreen, needs a weekly watering, so not suitable in xeriscaping except in moister, clay-based beds.

Vigorous, clump forming perennial flowers starting in spring to early summer; may go dorman in hottest weather. Cup-shaped flowers are a vivid blue and tinged pink at the center. Plant in well-drained soil. Provide afternoon shade, especially in the south.