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Geranium 'Jolly Bee' - A vigorous perennial that forms a compact bushy clump to 18 inches tall with large 3 inch wide cupped lavender-blue flowers with light lavender to white centers and purple veins. Noted for being particularly floriferous with an exceptionally long bloom period (from spring until frost) and to have good garden performance.
Plant in full sun and irrigate regularly. Hardy to USDA Zone 4. Cut back spent blooms to encourage continuous flowering.
Geranium 'Jolly Bee' was a cultivar we grew from 2005 until 2012 that was very similar to Geranium 'Rozanne', though perhaps more upright and vigorous. It was a selection made in 1998 by Van Noort nursery in Warmond, Holland that was reportedly created by crossing Geranium shikokianum var. yoshiianum with G. wallichianum cultivar Buxton's Variety and received US Patent PP12148 in 2001.
After a lengthy legal battle Marco Van Noort agreed to cease trading his 'Jolly Bee' variety, which Blooms of Bressingham claimed was too similar to the cultivar Rozanne ['Gerwat']. 'Jolly Bee' had been granted protection by Plant Variety Rights in 2003, three years after the introduction of Rozanne and this prompted Blooms of Bressingham, the assignee of the patent on Rozanne to released a statement saying that "Independent DNA research revealed that there are virtually no differences in the DNA of both varieties. In addition, new investigations revealed that both varieties are not, at least not clearly, distinct from one another from a morphological point of view." Not everyone agreed that these plants are exactly the same; however, there is general agreement that they were not different enough to warrant the two varieties co-existing in the marketplace. Geranium 'Rozanne' ['Gerwat'] held the US Plant Patent PP12,175, granted on October 30, 2001 just 2 weeks after 'Jolly Bee' received its patent and both patents have since expired. We continue to grow Geranium 'Rozanne'.
The etymology of the genus name Geranium, and the family Geraniaceae, is derived from the Greek word, 'geranos' which means "crane" from the seed capsule's resemblance to beak of this bird. It is a large genus with over 430 species distributed throughout most of the world, except in lowland tropical areas.
This information about Geranium 'Jolly Bee' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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