My Plant Of The Centenary

"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.