"Indispensable" - Marina Christopher.
"I could not live without it"- Margery Fish.
"A pearl beyond price" - Graham Stuart Thomas.
"A treasure"- Beth Chatto.
"The most wonderful cranesbill weaver" - Christopher Lloyd
The above are all accolades given to my plant of the centenary which is geranium wallichianum 'Buxton's Variety'.Whilst the dignitaries of the Royal Horticultural Society are engaged in earnest and prolonged debate, choosing a 'Plant Of The Centenary' to celebrate the forthcoming Chelsea Flower Show's big birthday bash, Michelle over at Veg Plotting has invited bloggers to join in the party spirit. She has challenged bloggers to come up with their own choice. So a little bit more about my candidate. It was raised by E.C Buxton in North Wales (so fairly local to me) in 1920. This was one of the plants that hovered on the edge of my consciousness, when choosing my top three for Shirl's 'Desert Island Plant Challenge' back in January 2009. Since then it has become one of my favourite plants. It is tough, hardy and not prone to disease or to attack from any beasties as far as I can ascertain. I've never had to divide it, restrain it, prune it or curse it. It is a gentle unassuming plant coming into leaf late on in the season and into flower from late summer to the first frosts. The flowers are a vivid sky - blue with a white centre. It can be shy to set seed but when it does you can save the seed, which then if sown in April will flower the same year.What more could you ask for of a plant? I was going to say a lot more but the fan of my beloved Apple Mac blew a gasket last night. It was quite dramatic with smoke effects! So my comfortable computer station is presently out of action hence a brief post to sing the praises of my plant of the centenary.
You can read about other fine candidates for the honour of 'My Plant Of The Centenary' over at Veg Plotting.
I love geraniums, so this is one for me to watch out for. I'm trying to get year round colour in to my garden, so a late flowerer will be very welcome, especially when it does it's thing till the first frosts.
ReplyDeleteLovely choice Anna, and another plant goes on my wishlist, sounds like the perfect plant to pick up the batton from early flowering plants. Any favourite combinations for it?
ReplyDeleteGood choice - I think geraniums get over looked a lot as they aren't in your face plants but there are too many of those IMHO
ReplyDeleteHope your laptop recovers
So many lovely geraniums you could choose from but there are obviously very good reasons why you and all the noteables have recommended this one. I shall make a mental note.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great choice! That's a beauty. A new geranium on my - I've added it to my list too! I do have an unnamed blue hardy geranium which flowers look similar but then there are probably more than a 'few' other which do too.
ReplyDeleteI love the colour of this geranium... a good choice Anna!
ReplyDeleteHi Anna - what an excellent choice. As Helen says, Geraniums are often overlooked for the value they bring to our gardens. I have a few which nicely thread themselves through the rest of my planting :)
ReplyDeleteI love geraniums and got a bit carried away with them when I first moved into this garden. In the end I had to accept I couldn't grow them all and ended up giving some away. I love how they just do their thing without any fuss and can cope with most things our weather throws at them. And they're slug proof. What more could you want.
ReplyDeleteAnna, I'm always happy to learn about a new geranium variety -- especially one that seems to be as special as this one. And it looks as though it would grow in my garden; now I need to look for it. Thanks. -Jean
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