by Diane Sagers

GUEST COLUMNIST

Ah, geraniums. We all know about geraniums.

They are those plants with the pretty, round, multiple flowered heads and fluted leaves aren't they? We grow them in our gardens and they die each fall unless we take them indoors.

Well, actually, no. Those aren't geraniums. They are actually pelargoniums, a plant that originates in the northern hemisphere and has been nicknamed geraniums.

Botanists know the true geranium as an evergreen, shrubby plant that can be annual or perennial. Many of them originated in South Africa.

However, they are also common in the mountains in our area. We generally refer to them as cranesbill. They do very well in our valley gardens and bloom over a long period in summer and fall.

The flowers are not usually as showy as the geranium flowers and they bloom singly or in clusters of two or three.

They have five overlapping petals that look alike and form a round blossom. The colors generally come in rose, blue, purple and some are pink or white. Leaves are roundish or perhaps kidney shaped and deeply lobed or cut.

They are not particularly tall plants. In fact some are trailing. They make great additions to rock gardens and borders.

The name cranesbill comes from the form of the seed heads which have a small rounded end and a long protruding end that resembles the bill of a crane.

This year, the Perennial Plant Association has selected a geranium as the Perennial Plant of the Year. Geranium 'Rozanne' is a hardy geranium that Donald and Rozanne Waterer discovered in 1989 in their Somerset, England garden.

While many geraniums have flowers of about an inch in diameter, this one has 2-1/2-inch, iridescent violet-blue flowers with purple-violet veins and radiant white centers.

Perennials as a group are often short-term flowers. They bloom for a short period and are finished for the year.

Part of the appeal of Geranium Rozanne is that it produces its saucer-shaped blooms from late spring to mid fall, longer than most hardy geraniums.

While many hardy geraniums will withstand the very cold winters in our Utah mountains, this variety lives in USDA hardiness zones from 5 to 8.

This means it may do well some winters, but not live through very cold winters in our area without added protection. However, you may consider it worth the risk to enjoy its long season of bloom.

It grows 20 to 24 inches tall and about 24 to 28 inches wide growing best in full sun to partial shade.

Given our very hot summers, you should ideally plant it in well-drained soil where it can be kept moist (not wet) and where it will get afternoon shade.

Rozanne will make a beautiful ground cover, or you can use it as a specimen in plantings.

Consider the contrast it would make with Shasta daisies, or plant it with hostas, speedwell, and perennial salvia or consider mixing it among short ornamental grasses.

It will make a lovely addition to patio containers, window boxes and hanging baskets, as well.

As a Perennial Plant of the year, this plant has had to pass the following requirements.

A committee votes on the one plant that they consider adequate for their yearly award using the following criteria.

The plant must be suitable for a wide range of climatic conditions, requires little maintenance and be pest- and disease-resistant. It must provide a multiple season of ornamental interest -- none of the short-lived get-it-while-you-can perennials will make the grade. It also has to be easy to propagate using asexual reproduction or propagated by seed.

It must also be readily available for sale the year it is released.