For the past 18 years, the Perennial Plant Association has crowned a much deserving plant with its Perennial of the Year award. This year's chosen plant is Geranium 'Rozanne.'

Now don't get perennial geraniums confused with the annual bedding geraniums so many of us plant in urns and window boxes come Memorial Day weekend. Their genus names are completely different, which alerts us to the fact that they are not the same flower. The perennial geranium's genus is Geranium, the annual's genus is Pelargonium.

Geranium 'Rozanne' boasts countless large, 2 1/2-inch violet-blue, saucer-shaped flowers that sport deep purple veins and a tiny white center eye. Each flower tops its own thin flower stalk and gracefully blankets the delicate foliage below, nearly coloring the plant in blue from spring to fall.

Full grown, this incredibly long-blooming geranium covers 24 inches of garden space while reaching upwards nearly the same distance.

'Rozanne' has numerous garden uses. Its rounded outline when planted in mass as a ground cover creates a very interesting multimounding effect rather than the typical uniform height we often see with pachysandra beds, not to mention it also offers color.

All this plant asks for is a moist, well-drained soil located in a sunny to partially sunny location. When planted further south, shading from the intense afternoon summer sun is recommended. Come fall, trim spent flowers but allow the foliage to remain as its own winter mulch. In spring simply rake lightly to fluff and remove dead leaves. It's hardy in zones 5-8.

The 2007 Perennial Plant of the Year was Nepeta 'Walkers Low' catmint. If you do not have this beauty in your garden, don't wait another year. This is one of my favorites. It won't stop flowering in the garden, it won't wilt in bouquets, and when dried for everlasting wreaths, arrangements or potpourri, it carries itself beautifully.

'Walkers Low' has blue-green foliage composed of teeny tiny leaves that are incredibly fragrant. The plant itself can grow to be about 30 inches in height, but it's the multitude of short, spiked flower stalks that top the foliage and are covered in lilac blue bells that put the topping on this flower's cake. These flowers are a favorite among bees and butterflies.

Then there is its ability to, once established, become quite drought- and salt-tolerant, lending itself as a great plant for a spot along a sidewalk, driveway or mailbox. Oh and did I mention the fragrance of its leaves renders it rather successful at deterring rabbits and deer?

To provide us with all these benefits, 'Walkers Low' asks only for a well-drained soil (waterlogged roots are a nemesis) and a very sunny location (either full or afternoon sun, a morning exposure is a bit too shady). It's hardy in zones 3 to 8.

To keep the plant in its best form, there is a bit of maintenance required, but it's minimal. After the first wave of bloom fades (usually June sometime) shear the flower stalks off. You can go so far as to even trim back about one-third of the foliage. This will do two things: force secondary branching for a more compact plant and produce yet a longer flush of flower power right through autumn.

I have experimented with pruning and not pruning. If not pruned, the second flush can become too heavy for the branches to support, causing the plant to topple over. When pruned, the multibranching that results is able to keep both plant and bloom erect. In the fall, cut it back as you would other herbaceous perennials.

For information on all crowned royalties, go to www.perennialplant.org/.