Geranium [Rozanne] ('Gerwat')

This unlovely name 'Gerwat' is the registered cultivar name of a dazzling new hardy geranium. It is better known as Rozanne's cranesbill, so I prefer to write Geranium Rozanne, named after Rozanne Waterer, who, with her husband, spotted it in their garden. It is a hybrid of G. himalayense and G. wallichianum 'Buxton's Variety', producing large (5 cm across) intense violet-blue flowers lit with large white centres. In flower from late spring onwards, it takes a rest in late summer, but a trim then will check its sprawling habit and induce a fresh crop of blooms well into late autumn. Planted at the border edge, in sun or part shade, it stops every passer-by.