Geranium Rozanne Lanky ?

I bought a couple of small Geranium Rozannes a few weeks back . They are growing well and showing a few nice flowers , but each stem is very long . Should I prune them back now to promote a bushier plant ? Or leave it to next spring or even leave them alone ?
TIA

 

No Harry....leave them now. If this was mid summer then yes because they would have regrown and reflowered. Enjoy the flowers now. Plants will die down in a month or so and new growth will begin again in spring.
Cutting back herbaceous now wont produce bushier growth for next year

Next summer, say early July, cut off the flowers for vigorous flush well into the autumn

 

Thanks @Verdun , so the Rozanne dies right back in winter , and a midsummer cut back next season will promote later flowers

 

Thats right Harry

 

Good choice of plant @HarryS . It was voted plant of the centenary by the RHS? and well deserved. It flowers for ages creates a nice "mound", needs zero attention, doesn't need staking as not too tall and it is tough as old boots.
It's only very slight downside as it doesn't come true from seed but easily struck from cuttings or division. I got rid of (sold in my charity sale) all my Johnsone Blue Geranium which is pretty similar but flowers are not as big and flowering period much much shorter as it was too similar but inferior to my mind.
I grow a large number of hardy geranium as they make superb ground cover (needed in a garden my of my size). Apart from a very pretty double Himalayan Plenum (above) which flowers twice but has a rest during a good part of the summer, Roxanne is my favourite hardy Geranium.
I realised the worth of this genus years ago when I visited a superb open garden in a god forsaken part of Scotland where it was a fair challenge to grow anything. The garden was about 3 acres and run more or less single handed by an amazing plants woman. I couldn't believe the lack of weeds around but soon saw her use of Geraniums eliminated much of where weeds would have take advantage of if bare soil.

 

I knew that Rozanne was a very highly rated plant , but could I find one in our local nurseries no ! I orderd two plants on Ebay in the end .

 

Yes @HarryS , garden centres seem quite reluctant to stock hardy Geraniums. Perhaps because that don't have a huge impact when in a small pot they would rather stock plants which have the impulse buy factor
I have maybe 30 different varieties of Geranium and can say for certain none of them came from garden centres! Can you tell I don't go a bomb on these chains of garden centres which in reality are coffee shops with gradually diminishing sections of plants, the majority of which will have been bought in from Holland, garden supermarkets would be a better name for them. However, it would appear that the public like them so I will just choose to go elsewhere when I wish to buy plants.

 

I grow a few hardy geraniums and rozanne is prob the longest flowerer. Here one makes a glorious purple/blue mound all summer long at least 2.5 metres across and almost a metre high.

Orion, Elke, Jolly Bee, Ann Folkhard, Patricia and Wargrave Pink also flower here for a very long time and offer a different colour.

 

My Rozanne was bought last autumn after the flowers had all gone. It died down completely over winter still in its pot. In the spring I planted it out. It has thrived ever since. I thought mine looked a bit lanky and it gets flattened by the rain but I'm sure it will thicken out over the next year or two. It's definitely a lot bigger now than it was when I planted it. I can't take a photo at the moment as it is currently hidden from view.

G.

 

This photo was dated 30th July. I'm expecting the plant to completely fill that space. It will add colour to a dark spot and soften the end of the slabs. Under there is a scattering of random spring bulbs (aconites, daffodils and snowdrops). That should be enough for all year interest.

G.

 

Yes Gary....it should indeed fill that space and prob by next summer

 

Mine was a little slow to get going but now there is no stopping it, 2rd year I think maybe 3rd.

 

That could be it @silu . The Rozanne does not have a great WoW factor as a small pot plant , hence my difficulty in finding it .
From the posts above , I have planted both of them in the wrong locations . I did not realise they would cover such a large area . Is it best to move them now , or wait until they spring into life next season
Does anybody else keep wanting to call it Geranium Roxanne , I do

 

Harry, I am a great believer in moving plants in autumn....now...rather than in spring. For a start we can see how they fit in; the soil is warm and moist too so the roots will still be growing.
Ha ha, yep! I say roxanne, rozanne, whatever occurs.
Very few plants actually look their best in pots.....hardy geraniums esp

 

Oh boy yes @HarryS I actually thought that was it's name for quite a while!. I wouldn't move it now while presumably it's still flowering but you could either move it once all it's foliage dies down in the autumn or wait till spring. I live in a pretty cold part so do most of my moving in the spring but geraniums are extremely obliging so the choice is yours.