Posted by
Ispahan (Chicago - Zone 6a) on Jul 5, 2012 7:33 PM concerning plant:
My spring-planted specimens of Geranium 'Sandrine' are one of the few hardy geraniums I put in that have been growing actively and blooming in the intense heat and drought of summer 2012. New growth is a lovel chartreuse that ages to a nice dark green. Flowers are vivid fuchsia/magenta that not only looks good in the garden but is attractive to pollinators as well. I have not yet overwintered it, but if it survives this may one day be one of the prettiest plants in my garden!
UPDATE 28 June 2013:
Soon after posting my original comments above, all three of my plants suddenly died, probably due to extreme heat stress even with regular deep hose waterings during severe drought conditions. They were never seen from again. However, this cultivar was pretty enough that I planted three new specimens this spring. One of them is starting to grow and form flower buds, one plant is just sitting there (but suffered very minor rabbit damage), and the third plant unceremoniously died. 'Sandrine' is lovely, but if it doesn't survive this time around I will not bother to replace it.
So far, Geranium psilostemon and its hybrids like 'Patricia', 'Dragon Heart', 'Anne Folkard', 'Anne Thompson' and now 'Sandrine' have all been very weak and unreliable growers for me in zone 6 urban Chicago. The only G. psilostemon cultivar that has been reliable is 'Tiny Monster', but this one takes much more after its Geranium sanguineum parent!