Johnson's Blue Cranesbill Plants

Geranium Johnsons Blue

A go-to perennial for garden designers - it's no wonder Geranium Johnsons Blue is so popular! (You'll also see it written as Johnson's Blue). Its deep lavender-blue, saucer-shaped flowers start to appear in May among the attractive, deeply divided, mid-green leaves. The clusters of flowers become paler blue at the centre, creating a stunning effect. Once the first flush of blooms has finished, cut back any old leaves and flowering stems and you'll get a second flush of flowers later in the summer.

Grown primarily as weed-suppressing ground cover, plants quickly knit together to form an unbroken mat. Geraniums are the traditional plants for ground cover under roses.

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Great In Your Garden...

Johnsons Blue is one of the easiest plants to grow, so it's ideal for beginners and is loved by pollinators, so it's perfect for the wildlife garden.

From a design point of view, geraniums are fantastic at covering the dying foliage of bulbs, and the bare soil under roses and other large shrubs, as they don't mind a bit of shade.

They look lovely weaving in and out of the front of a mixed border and will provide a little bit of support to plants growing through them, like Euphorbias.

Features

• Flower: Deep lavender blue.
• Foliage: Mid-green divided leaves.
• Flowering: May to August.
• Height: 30cm.
• Spread: 60cm.
• Spacing: 60cm.
• Position: Sun or partial shade.
• Soil: Loam, clay, sand, chalk, moist but well-drained.

Did You Know...

Don't confuse these true perennial geraniums (cranesbills) with the fuzzy-leaved showy tender pot plants often referred to as the same thing - they're actually Pelargoniums.

Johnsons Blue Geraniums like well-drained but moist soil in sun or partial shade. Plant 60cm apart and add compost into the planting hole. Keep well watered until established.

Feed with a general-purpose fertiliser and mulch in spring. In midsummer remove old flowered stems and leaves for a second flush of blooms. Divide overcrowded clumps in spring. Can be affected by vine weevils, powdery and downy mildew.