Geranium Jolly Bee
Jolly Bee
Hardy Geraniums, I love. There are so many to choose from, some with quite short flowering periods, others which claim to flower throughout the Summer.
There are dwarf ones, tall ones, and hundreds in between, colours in shades of pink,purple, blue, white and even red.
Finding out yourself which ones you like or those which you are not so fond of can be fun, but rather expensive if you keep getting it wrong. In the Spring of 2010 we had a position in the front garden where we decided a blue geranium would be just ideal. We were after one which did not grow higher than 30/40cm and would spread reasonably well without the trailing effect of Anne Folkard.
In the past we had one called Rozanne which grew a bit too tall in our garden for the position which we now wanted one for. This time we settled on Jolly Bee,and what a result. The plants were only in 9cm pots and I felt that I would not find out the true performance until the following year.
However by the beginning of June they started to flower and put on a good show for six weeks, after which I tidied up the plants removed dead heads and some of the faded foliage.Within 10 days Jolly bee started to flower profusely again and continued until early November. They have performed equally as well again this year. The abundant flowers are a bright mid blue with a white centre, so glad we got this plant. The bad news is, I dont think you can, I do suspect that you will get Rozanne even if it is being advertised as Jolly Bee. It appears that the growers of Rozanne decided that Jolly Bee was identical to their plant and a big fight got up.
Well I am afraid Jolly Bee lost out and apparently had to be taken off the market. OK, the flowers did look very much the same but the performance and height differed greatly in our Aberdeen garden and the profusion of flowers has been much greater with Jolly Bee.
Hardiness – fully hardy
Height 30/40cm
Availability – sorry
____________________
With the sun starting to go down on an early October evening, The light seemed just right for this.
This Silver Birch in my neighbour Millies garden comes alive in the evening sunshine. After losing one of our own Birch trees its a bonus to see this from our back garden.
______________________
The exaggerated hues of the Rowan tree Joseph Rock in our woodland is brought about with the intensity of the evening sunshine.
____________________
Looking towards our woodland area in early October the Autumn shades are being exaggerated by the evening sunshine.
______________________
A few Roses are still hanging on.
The single flowers of Rosa Sweet Haze have a simple charm which is so very easy to overlook.
_________________
The climbing Rose Compassion had become very woody, and on the advice of a fellow blogger, Myra cut it hard back. It has rejuvenated and is now offering a few blooms in early October. If you were that blogger please accept my apologies for forgetting your name.
________________________
The Rose de rescht after flowering profusely in July normally gives a good second flush in early September. Not so willing this year, the bloom above opening on 4th of October is one of a very few.
_____________________
A few late blooms on the unknown climbing Rose in the round garden is a welcome treat.
____________________
I suppose its photographed quite well. However to be quite honest I cant stand this HT Rose Buxom Beauty, the blooms are absolutely enormous and in the Aberdeen weather usually look a sorry state. Myra likes it, so there it will stay until I manage to persuade her of its true attributes —right and pigs can fly! photo taken on 5th October.
_____________________
Laura Anne with a few blooms remaining in October, a great Cockers HT Rose which is no longer available in the UK. A Google search a few months back showed a grower in Canada still supplying it.
____________________
If you happen to leave a comment I will be sure to visit your site and do the same
The Sedum is Autumn Joy. The petals of Sweet Haze are delicate but not particularly so.
Hi Alistair, you and your wife have an amazing garden! Are they Sedums you have got along with your
Rosa Sweet Haze? If so, what type are they. Are the petals of that rose delicate. It looks lovely but where I am thinking of planting one it can be quite windy at times.
To be quite honest Esther, we often get it wrong with planting too close to one another.
Autumn – pretty good season!
I’m always impressed how you are able to press plants up together in your garden without them seeming to feel claustrophobic. There’s a great skill at work here.
It is very interesting Pam, it really is my own suggestion that it may be the soil difference that is affecting the colour, I don’t really know. I must say though the picture of Rozanne on your post today, one of the blooms has a purple hue yet the other bloom is decidedly blue.
Hello again, Alistair. Thought you’d like to know I linked to this article in my latest posting. P.
Hello Pam, It is strange that a few people find Rozanne to be purple, it is such a distinct shade of blue in all gardens over here.
Dear Alistair, Fascinating posting and comments. I love my perennial geranium ‘Rozanne’ because it is so reliable — blooming all summer and still going strong today. Mine is purple though. Pamela
NH, Looks like there are still plenty mail order company’s selling it. I wonder if its legal to do this.
Hi Janet, I have often thought of trying the Cercis, not so sure if it would take to the Aberdeen weather. The Jolly Bee Geranium is in fact the same colour as Rozanne, its the habit which I was going on about.
Hi Alistair, I am fascinated at the change in flower colour you report, and that something apparently genetically identical can perform so differently. Lucky that you got the plant that behaves as you want it to. Lovely photos of the birch and the late roses. Our trees are still green, barely a hint of autumn yet, the one exception being the Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’.
Everything looks fantastic! Too bad about the Jolly Bee!
We no longer have Rozanne Cathy, we removed it and replanted with Jolly bee and found this to be what we were looking for. I cut ours back in late August so for this reason the leaves are still very green, but they are smaller, plants are still smothered in flowers.
Yes, but as you know, even the tiniest genetic difference makes each one unique. Plant genetics being as advanced as they are, I wonder why no one thought to look at it? Earlier this year I moved a small piece of Jolly Bee to another place in the garden and have it growing not too far from another piece of Rozanne, and the blooms look the same nut the plants are very different in terms of how they grow and even the color of the foliage as the season turns to fall.
Do you notice that too? Rozanne has stayed quite dark and is on the larger and taller side side but as the days have gotten cooler, the Jollee Bee leaves have taken on a tinge of red aroung the edges and leaves are smaller and brighter green. (And it’s not because of different exposure to light or different growing conditions… I have them three feet apart in the same bed.)
Hi Carolyn, it reminds me of the time when we had a blue meconopsis, I remember lifting it and replanting in an extremely shady position. The flowers in the following Spring were no longer blue but a distinct purple.
Well that is very interesting–the DNA was identical. I have never grown ‘Jolly Bee’ in the ground–I have only seen it in a pot, love the name though. Soil must effect the flower color. I always wondered why the photos on the tag showed blue flowers.
Julie, getting these combinations right are so very often a result of trial and error.
I love seeing G. ‘Jolly Bee’ threaded through your Alchemilla mollis… and the pretty combinations of Rosa Sweet Haze with the sedum. Your garden is looking very lovely for October!
Julie
Tatyana, that makes two of you who like it.
I have never seen hardy geraniums with this true blue colored flowers! What a beauty! I need to check if they have it in our nurseries. I agree with other readers – your garden is gorgeous! Love all the roses, even Buxom Beauty!
Hi Carolyn, I also find the flowers of Rozanne and Jolly bee virtually identical but the habit in growth quite different. The colour of them both are distinctly a mid blue without even a hint of purple. I wonder if soil would have an effect on the colour. Here is a link which I think you may find interesting, http://www.rai-worldwide.com/downloads/EU%20Press%20Release.pdf
Alistair, The ‘Jolly Bee’ and the ‘Rozanne’ that I have sold at my nursery have always been indistinguishable. Now I don’t know if it was because I didn’t have the real ‘Jolly Bee’. ‘Rozanne’ was the U.S. Perennial Plant Association plant of the year for 2008 and is patented. It really is a great plant, blooming here from May until December. But you would never call it blue (unless you were in the marketing department)–it has very large purple flowers. Carolyn
May be a good idea Linnie, but not so sure if I can be bothered.
So, now that we ALL want Jolly Bee, you will just have to go into cutting production Alistair. I love blue geraniums and it would be nice to have one that is shorter. Your gardens are entering the fall season beautifully.
That’s a shame Holley, and so many of the Hardy Geraniums are reasonably tolerant of drought, well to a certain extent I suppose.
Hi b-a-g, they haven’t officially kept the name, a settlement was made and Jolly bee had to be withdrawn, although I see that some suppliers of Rozanne are including the name of Jolly bee when it is not the actual plant which you will get.
Not so sure that it is any bluer Jennifer, but the habit differs. Its a pleasure to have you on my Your Gardens page.
Hi Alistair, I like geraniums and you quickly had me sold on Jolly Bee…that is until I scrolled down just a bit further and discovered that it was not available. What a shame! I like Rosanne’s long bloom time and would have liked to have the slightly bluer variety as well. It looks great BTW in amongst the Lady’s Mantle and under the roses. Thanks for including me on the “Your Gardens” page. I am deeply honoured and appreciative!
I was curious to see this post when the name Jolly Bee popped up, and it didn’t disappoint. Not surprised they kept the name if not the plant.
I love the garden pic of your geraniums. I tried to start some this year, but the drought did them in. I will definitely try again next year! Love the blue! And your roses look gorgeous!
Chris, cant help but think of Winter when Autumn arrives.
Cathy, the tiniest difference in genetic make up can make all the difference, just look at me and the monkeys, well on second thoughts i could have given a more obvious example.
Alistair, I have both Jolly Bee and Rozanne, and you are absolutely correct – the blooms look identical but the plants are very different. And I got Jolly Bee by accident…. I have Rozanne under one of our crab apples and it is almost thigh high. I wanted something that high and blue in our other perennial garden. I saw the plant in bloom at the nursery and never bothered to check the tag… just grabbed it and plopped it in the other bed toward the back, where it has made a wonderful groundcover of sorts but is completely lost as it is so short. You can hardly see it behind the astilbe and echinacea!
I think we will move at least some of it in the spring. It will fare much better in our Secret Garden where I can use something lower growing.
It’s too bad they didn’t evaluate these more carefully before pulling Jolly Bee off the market. I do love the white eye, and that is what attracted me to it in the first place. I wonder if one is the sport of the other?
What a great combination the Jolly Bee Geranium, Lady’s Mantle and pink roses make! Although I’m reluctant to see fall arrive, I enjoyed your great shots of its beauty.
Donna, I think there may be an opportunity on the black market for us, (joking) Oh, I could be doing with a heatwave.
Alistair I also have the “real” Jolly Bee. It is a stunner and I love it. I have to say your gardens look lovelier and lovelier every time I see them. The dramatic effect of the fall foliage against the green and still flowering garden is quite spectacular. We are also losing our leaves before they turn any color but brown. They are stressed from our extremes this year. Better color is coming out on some other trees around due to the cooler weather. This weekend we are having a heat wave so it should be great for gardening. Oh and the roses you still have…wonderful!!
Kininvie, thanks for the suggestion, but no , definitely not Maigold.
Hi Frances, Laura Anne is a very nice Rose and has a terrific perfume.
Alistair I love Jolly bee with Lady’s Mantle under your roses, the late afternoon/evening sun just now is golden, the moor and crofts around my house turn gold (well when the sun can get through the clouds), I really like the last rose Laura Anne, a beautiful colour, does it have a perfume? Frances
Alistair, – Your unknown yellow climber looks very like ‘Maigold’ to me. Not if it repeat flowers, though. There’s quite a lot of colour variation in the flowers, so not easy to tell from them. But Maigold’s pimpinellifolia parentage – bright red young growth with close-set thorns – may be a clue
Donna, this year I have found that so much of the leaves are falling before colouring up for Autumn.
Thanks Larry, I am very pleased that you continue to check out my posts and comment on them. We had a short spell of weather which outshone mid summers best .
Alistair… your hardy geraniums with your roses are very effective and a delight to behold… I continue to enjoy your posts and thank you for sharing your great gardens… we have been having some of the most wonderful weather of the entire season… makes gardening seem totally worth every bit of the planning and effort as we experience the fruit of our creations on days like these! Larry
Very stunning scenery and images Alistair. The trees are coloring beautifully. Our trees have barely started, but leaves are falling.