{"id":3943,"date":"2023-04-25T13:07:09","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T21:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3943"},"modified":"2023-04-25T13:07:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T21:07:09","slug":"azure-rush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/azure-rush\/","title":{"rendered":"Azure Rush"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Geranium<\/a>I bought a new hardy geranium last week.\u00a0 That is not news.\u00a0 Over the years I have developed a small collection of varieties that I love for their beautiful flowers, interesting leaves and adaptable dispositions.\u00a0 The sturdiest of my collection is Geranium macrorrhizum, the big-root geranium, with pink, five-petaled spring flowers and deeply dissected, apple-scented leaves that turn red in the fall.\u00a0 It is a wonderful ground cover that goes beautifully about its business no matter what else is going on.<\/p>\n

Hardy geranium aficionados know that these plants are related to, but different from, the big-headed annual geraniums that many of us buy every spring to adorn our porches, patios, window boxes, and gardens.\u00a0 Both hardy geraniums and the common annual varieties belong to the vast geranium or Geraniaceae family.\u00a0 The tender annuals are known botanically as pelargoniums, but are commonly called \u201cgeraniums\u201d or \u201czonal geraniums\u201d.\u00a0 The hardy geraniums are perennials that can survive in cold winter climates.\u00a0 Some people call them \u2018cranesbills\u201d for the distinctive shape of their seed capsules.<\/p>\n

The new geranium, \u2018Azure Rush\u2019, also has deeply dissected leaves, but they are smaller and more delicate than those of the big-leaf geranium. The foliage is lightly scented, and the bright blue, five-petaled flowers have a bit of lavender in their color profile.\u00a0 Each is about two inches wide and features a white or palest blue central \u201ceye\u201d.\u00a0 The petals are also strikingly veined in darker blue-purple.<\/p>\n

When I first saw the blue-purple blooms of \u2018Azure Rush\u2019 on a nursery pallet, I thought I was looking at \u2018Rozanne\u2019, one of the current superstars of the horticultural world.\u00a0 Introduced in 2000 by renowned English nursery, Blooms of Bressingham, \u2018Rozanne\u2019 was the result of plant breeding done by an English couple named Waterer who crossed a European hardy geranium, Geranium wallichianum<\/em> \u2018Buxtons\u2019, with an Asian hardy geranium,\u00a0 Geranium \u00a0himalayense..\u00a0 The resulting plant had lovely flowers and proved to be an all-around good grower, ambling through garden beds at about 18 inches tall, with a mature spread of about two feet.\u00a0 \u2018Rozanne\u2019 does not form solid, ground-covering mounds like some other hardy geraniums, but weaves itself in and out among other plants.\u00a0 The interweaving means that the blue-violet flowers offer lovely surprises wherever they pop up.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Rozanne\u2019 had so many virtues\u2014including alluring color, heat tolerance and repeat blooming–that plant merchandisers, botanical institutions and gardeners everywhere took notice.\u00a0 It was the Perennial Plant Association\u2019s \u201cPlant of the Year\u201d in 2008, and the Royal Horticultural Society\u2019s centennial \u201cPlant of the Century\u201d in 2013.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the midst of all of that \u2018Rozanne\u2019 celebration, a German plantsman, Jan Dirk Schuiver, found a sport or spontaneous genetic mutation of \u2018Rozanne\u2019 in 2007.\u00a0 The sport had slightly lighter flowers, a more compact habit and a less sprawling disposition.\u00a0 The differences between the superstar parent plant and its genetic sport added up to a promising new introduction.\u00a0 Blooms of Bressingham introduced the sport, christened \u2018Azure Rush\u2019.\u00a0 This spring it is available from many plant merchandisers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In a nutshell, \u2018Azure Rush\u2019 is similar to \u2018Rozanne\u2019, but boasts better manners and possibly, more flowers.\u00a0 Like its parent, it thrives in a variety of soils and prefers a sunny or lightly-shaded situation.\u00a0 It can grow nicely in containers, especially mixed container arrays.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For those of us with varmint issues, the cranesbills, including \u2018Rozanne\u2019 and \u2018Azure Rush\u2019, provide welcome respite from perpetual repellant spraying.\u00a0 Deer, rabbits and their predacious four-legged allies generally avoid them.\u00a0 The plants are easy to care for, though deadheading may increase flower production.\u00a0 Generally, \u2018Azure Rush\u2019 will flower on and off throughout the growing season.\u00a0 This makes a contrast from some other hardy geraniums that are \u201cone and done\u201d performers when it comes to seasonal flower production.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You may be able to find \u2018Azure Rush\u2019 at local nurseries and garden centers this spring.\u00a0 If not, you can buy both \u2018Azure Rush\u2019 and its parent, \u2018Rozanne\u2019, from Bluestone Perennials, <\/em>7211 Middle Ridge Rd., Madison, OH 44057; 800-852-5243<\/a>; www.bluestoneperennials.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Print catalog available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I bought a new hardy geranium last week.\u00a0 That is not news.\u00a0 Over the years I have developed a small collection of varieties that I love for their beautiful flowers, interesting leaves and adaptable dispositions.\u00a0 The sturdiest of my collection is Geranium macrorrhizum, the big-root geranium, with pink, five-petaled spring flowers and deeply dissected, apple-scented … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,1],"tags":[2862,1351,175,1107,174,2863],"class_list":["post-3943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-uncategorized","tag-azure-rush-geranium-sports","tag-rozanne","tag-cranesbills","tag-geranium-family","tag-hardy-geraniums","tag-perennial-geraniums"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3943"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3945,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3943\/revisions\/3945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}