They just say large flower. If they could give the size of the plant why did they not give the size of the flower.

The pic resembles Rozanne which also blooms June until frost. Is it the same plant with a new name?

Interesting....I will see if we have it here yet this summer. I love geraniums.

Yes that is my "concern" ie is it really just a Rozanne? I do have one Rozanne and it is a bloom machine but I would like a similar bloomer but in a less sprawling more compact size.

It will be similar to 'Rozanne', but different enough. It is from Dutch breeder Marco Van Noort, and he certainly does not want to repeat the "mistake" of 'Jolly Bee'.

'Havana Blues' is the first of what I expect to be a few "new & improved" forms with long-blooming blue flowers. True blue, bi-colour and improved habit/form are his objectives. See website below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marco Van Noort's Nursery

looks like another wallichianum type but is, i think, more of a clump former. I got it last year so it is still very new for me. Lovely veining in the flower but the length of bloom time is around the same as Rozanne.

I hope it it is just like JOllybee but different enough from Rozanne so the grower doesn't get in patent trouble again. Jolly Bee was not like Rozanne, and I grew them side by side. If I can find a clumping blue/purple like Jolly Bee I'd gladly pay a new release higher price.
It is being sold by Lazy S; very good mail order nursery by the way.
idabean

I thought the consensus was that overall "Jolly Bee" and "Rozanne" are very similar...little to choose between the two of them.

In any event I have been told on good authority that "HB" blooms less than "JB" but the flowers are bigger, lighter blue and dark veined. "HB" will reach a height of between 30 cm to 40 cm whereas "JB" is generally (much) taller i.e. 50 to 60 cm.

I guess we'd have to locate where the consensus is. Honest, I really did grow them side by side. The white center of JB was more pronounced,but I couldn't see it unless the blossoms were side by side. And JB clumped and didn't sprawl. For garden use that difference in habit was significant.

However, I recall that genetically the plants could not be distinguished from one another. And that was the deciding factor and the JB breeder lost the patent case and a whole lot of money.
So I'm seeking out Havana Blues.

Anyone else likely to try it? Why?

Idabean

Ida, my nearby independent nursery lists HB for this season. I will buy one for sure hoping that it is smaller and more compact than my "Rozanne".

As soon as I saw the picture, I thought it looks like my Jolly Bee and Rozanne. I grow them both, not side by side, and I picked a flower from each one to compare. My flowers look almost exactly the same. Both are big time sprawlers here, and both pretty much bloom from late Spring until the frost kills them. Jolly Bee is in a perfect spot but Rozanne may need to be moved. She tumbles and covers everything in her path.
she is in a mixed perennial bed and that causes problems with my shorter plants. I also have what I think is a species Cranebill, given to me by my next door neighbor. It has gotten too big for the spot it's in, and it keeps increasing in size and sends out new plants, as well as seeding itself all over the yard. I'm planning on buying Orkney Cherry to replace it.

I'll be anxous to read about what you who purchase HB think about it at the end of the season.

Linda

I did a search and there seems to be conflict. Some say spreader some do not say at all but say it is 4' wide. That wide sounds to me as a spreader.

marquest wrote:

Some say spreader some do not say at all but say it is 4' wide. That wide sounds to me as a spreader.

I agree 4 feet would be for all intents and purposes a 'spreader' but according to the developer of Havana Blues:

"It is clump forming, 30 to 40 cm tall".

I have my fingers crossed that it is smaller and more compact than Rozanne/JB.

I forgot to add that Van Noort has written that an adult "HB" will have a diameter of 50 to 60 cm...this sounds very much 'clumping' to me.

So in inches that is about 3' x 2 1/2 feet. I was getting the sizes that the vendors that are selling stated. I am sure growth will be variable from from zone to zone.

Why don't they make it easy and say Clump or groundcover. lol

I do not mind sprawling because I love a groundcover that has a long bloom period in the sunny gardens because I do not use mulch and try to find good long blooming groundcovers.

Well overall marquest, as far as I can see i.e. according to the developer, the maximum size in inches of this "HB" geranium is a compact 15" tall by 2 feet wide. And if this is the case AND it is an extended bloomer as it is advertised it will be an outstanding hardy geranium.

rouge21, I used a converter because I do not know cm and the sizes I posted was from the cm you posted. I don't know nuthin. lol

If people are looking for compact I hope it is compact. It does not matter to me I do not mind either way.

UPDATE:

I planted 4 very small bare root HB back in late May. It is now in late September that they are each now showing their potential i.e. 'floriferousness' and long duration of flowering.

Not the best quality of picture but it does give you some idea of the good things to come next season.

{{gwi:194771}}

Looks great! Can anyone who grows this contribute to how blue this is compared to Jolly Bee or Rozanne?

Got some 'Rozanne' blooms (plants still blooming) in front of me.
To me, there's some red in the blue of the flower, which gets less in the fully open flower and is gone as the overall colour fades.

Won't compare colour of actual flowers with pictures. Also, perception of colour (especially involving small colour gradations) is a subjective thing.

I would feel happier if growers/sellers described colour in some objective way (I guess spectrophotometry is asking too much). But there's more important information that those who purchase plants are not usually given.

Personally, over 4 or 5 years, have found 'Rozanne' to be an exceptionally reliable plant and exceptional for it's very long bloom time. The flopping (mentioned above) is a draw back to my own style of perennial gardening.
I found the old 'Johnson's Blue' easier to stake.

The petals on the 'Rozanne' flowers, in front of me, are wider than those in the picture above and I don't notice the dark ribbing? into the purplish blue outer part of the petals.

Think it will be very interesting to see how many years perennials like 'Rozanne' last in our (various) growing conditions.

Will certainly try 'Havana Blues'!

nhbaba wrote: Can anyone who grows this contribute to how blue this is compared to Jolly Bee or Rozanne?

Well I grow both. (In fact I wonder if there is anyone who has at least one hardy geranium and without one being the ubiquitous "Rozanne"?)

FWIW here is a picture took this afternoon showing an HB bloom on the left and a RZ flower on the right. As 'Sunny' had written it is very hard to judge shades of blue from a picture but it is clear that the veining on a HB flower is much more pronounced than with RZ and the HB flower is larger than those of RZ.

Sunnyborders wrote: Personally, over 4 or 5 years, have found 'Rozanne' to be an exceptionally reliable plant and exceptional for it's very long bloom time.

Yup I sheepishly agree.

Earlier this summer I 'bad mouthed' "Rozanne" in some thread...something about it being too sprawly, too messy. But it is late in the summer when I really see its value in my garden. Its blooms now going into October are striking. Here is mine today....blue jewels in an otherwise pretty colourless area of this garden.

Very nice, Rouge.
You're certainly keeping colour in the garden.
Not easy.

Pictures: an excellent comparison.
And I recognize "Rozanne'!

Again, I'm been talked into 'Havana Blue'.
Sounds worth knowing.

I'd read on line, that Gardenweb was a great site for real (=hands-on) gardeners. I'm finding that true!

I'm relatively hostile to those who make perennial gardening look easy, but who don't do (and maybe never did!) it themselves, especially when they have a vested financial interest in "informing!" me.

It's a breath of fresh air to hear from real gardeners, who not only read it, but do it. And this is a great place to read it.

'Sunny' I believe you have only relatively recently been a contributing GW member. I am so glad you came over this way as I do look forward to reading your posts. However I am still waiting to see pictures of your plants!

True, Rouge.

Been putting my gardens pictures, and Merlin's Hollow, on my Buddy Sharon's Blue Garden Cubit and will continue, but I'd really like to put pictures that may be of interest on this Perennial Forum too.

I'm interested particularly in how perennials are put together in beds and how the beds are maintained.

I've only have long-term maintenance contracts on a couple of gardens and there's also our own small garden. I only feel responsible for a garden, if I've been maintaining it over two or three years, or more.

Going to try for a pictures of one of my gardens from last week.

It worked!

rouge 21, Those are beautiful and one of best (and true blues) I have seen (besides on catalogs where most of the time the blue turned out to be lavendar!). I have been searching for a blue colored and long blooming plant for a while. I have stayed away from Geranium due to the spawling habits but now you may just have convinced me that this HB might work. So HB is on my shopping list for next spring.

Sunny Border, Nice garden and colors, particularly for this time of the year. What is that tall purple flowering plant next to the window?

Thanks,
Vivian

Great picture 'Sunny'!

Is that weeping tree some sort of beech?

Thanks Vivian.

I think in terms of flower production and duration of flowering HB shows lots of promise but the verdict is still out re its spread. I am sure it is less than "Rozanne" but the question is how much less. I will know better next season when the 4 will have a full uninterrupted season of growth.

Vivian, much of the colour in that garden is different asters, at this time. That tall mauvy-purple one is a No Name old garden New England aster. The other height (besides New England asters) is Japonese anemone.

Yes Rouge. I think it's a 'Purple Fountain' weeping beech. I just "do" perennial plants, rather than shrubs and trees, though I've had to take over more and more responsibility for maintaining and replacing shrubs.

The tree above is fine, but, being a sunshine-colour gardener, shade is not my choice.

Sorry to go off topic.

I so love beech trees with my favourite being the Copper or Purple beech.

Rouge, Look forward to your update next year!

SunnyBorder, it is a big & tall aster. But really nice.

Thanks

Vivian

Please don't leave out the charming and beautiful soft yellow flowers of Erodium golden storksbill. Very diminutive clump. Great for rock gardens, but does well for me in full afternoon sun (at foot of spruce tree)here in the Rockies. Prolific bloomer of a different color. Also a good echo for climbing rose Golden Showers.

A belated thanks to Rouge for posting the photo of the 2 flowers side by side.

No thanks needed 'babs'.

As an update in 2013,...my 4 HB survived their first winter and I am looking forward to seeing what they do in this their first complete summer in the garden. I am hoping they are (much) less large than Rozanne but still as floriferous. (None of my HB nor my Rozanne are flowering yet...although I see some flower buds on Rozanne).

Looking forward to photos of your Havana Blue this year, rouge21. I have been waiting for an improved and different cranesbill for awhile.

Very pretty, rouge21! That's a nice bed too. Thanks for posting that.

UPDATE

Although HB are not nearly as compact and neat as I had hoped they are definitely long time bloomers. Here is one today approaching 2 months since the picture above was posted

Not a single one of the six I plantedlast year showed up this spring. If I could ever get through to Santa Rosa and they'd replace them, I'd love to try again.
ida

ida, 4 of mine planted in 2012 did return this season but they took a very long time to show themselves...i thought they hadn't made it for the longest time.

I haven't had any of these plants, just Johnson's Blue, but I wonder if, depending on where the flower buds come from on the plant , if getting a long bloom period just might mean having a larger, maybe sprawling, plant. It might be really hard to separate more herbage in general from more flowers for a longer period. I'll have to go out and look at JB and see if I can figure this out.

I am liking HB more and more. This plant is looking extra good even this late in the season...better than Rozanne. The flowers look almost fluorescent blue in low light.

Wondering if your Havana Blues made it through the winter, Rouge.

I just purchased 3 at a seasonal nursery and am debating where to position them. Geraniums so far have proven quite versatile and enjoyable in my garden.

phlowerpower, all 5 HB geraniums did survive this past epic winter. (I am so glad as I have been unable to source this variety anywhere).

But just like the previous spring they did take their time reappearing (Rozanne poked almost 2 weeks earlier).

Is it easy to find HB in the States?

Glad to hear they are growing this year. I hope they prove to be good garden plants again.

They have not been easy to find, for me.
Last fall I pre-ordered several through Santa Rosa Gardens but their crop failed over the winter and their plug supplier discontinued carrying them. The only other online supplier I have found is Munchkin but they have it listed out of stock. My nearby town has three decent nurseries, but I have not seen HB at any of them. They seem to carry Rozanne...and Rozanne. :) A local grocery store has a seasonal garden center and today I found a few HB there, much to my surprise.

Now to decide where to put them....The area I was planning on now has fading tulips, so I need to decide if I work the plants in between the tulip foliage of if I just give up on the tulips returning. They were Triumphs, so probably do not have much chance of returning, but i still have a hard time pulling the foliage.