Calycanthus 'Aphrodite'

Aphrodite is a sheer pleasure year-round! A deciduous shrub with fragrant bark to carry you through the winter season, it also sports apple-scented blooms and bright green foliage. A heavy rebloomer, it is ignored by nibbling deer, frequented by butterflies, and gifted with the largest and most beautiful blooms in the family. Truly a "must have"!

At first glance, the flowers may remind you of Magnolias, held upright with beautifully incurved petals. Fully 4 inches wide, they are a rich wine-red shade, and superbly fragrant. Expect them to repeat all summer long, filling the sunny to partly shaded garden with a sweet aroma reminiscent of strawberries.

Very tolerant of heat and drought once established in the garden, this shrub reaches 7 feet high and 5 to 6 feet wide, with a good upright, multi-stemmed habit. It thrives in sun in most areas, though it can tolerate some afternoon shade. Clay, sand, and other soil extremes are no problem for this shrub. The leaves reach 5 inches long and wide, keeping Aphrodite handsome even when it isn't blooming.

Consider this shrub for use as a hedge, a foundation standout, or the back of the border. It is very low-maintenance, long-blooming, and lovely in every season. Highly recommended. Zones 5-9.

• Butterflies like a lot of sunlight, so locate your garden in a sunny area.
• If you live in a windy location, plant your butterfly-attracting plants near a building, fence, or hedge to protect them.
• Plant a variety of nectar-rich plants, as well as shrubs and evergreens for shelter.
• Since many butterflies and native flowering plants have co-evolved, try to put in some that are native to your area. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center provides lists of plants native to states and regions.
• Certain colors are particularly attracting to butterflies – red, yellow, pink, purple, or orange blooms that are clustered or flat-topped, with a short flower tubes are especially attractive to adult butterflies.
• Avoid using pesticides, especially around nectar-producing plants.
• Provide a shallow source of water – try a birdbath with pebbles lining the bowl.
• Place a rock in a sunny spot for butterfly basking and resting.
• Create a "puddling area" by digging a shallow hole filled with compost or manure where rainwater will collect and release essential salts and minerals.
• If you want butterflies to breed in your garden, put in some caterpillar food plants, such as parsley, milkweeds, asters, thistles, violets, clover, grasses, and Queen Anne’s Lace.
• Since butterflies need nectar throughout the entire adult phase of their lives, try to create a design that will allow for a continuous bloom – when one stops blooming, another starts.

As the deer population has boomed and food has become scarcer, they have become more aggressive. In some areas deer will strip your garden bare, leaving nothing green or flowery behind. While there is no such thing as a completely deer-proof garden, there are some effective things you can do to protect your garden from these hungry animals.

Use physical barriers

A High Fence
Deer can jump pretty high, but a fence higher than eight feet (higher on an up-slope) and flush with the ground will keep any deer out.

Electric Fences
They are a much easier and less expensive solution. Deer generally will not try to jump electric fences, but will rather try to climb through the wires, receiving a deterring shock.

Bird-Netting
An even less extreme physical option is to put bird netting over your larger and more susceptible plants.

Plant Deer-resistant Varieties

Herbs, some conifers, and many flowers are some of the best deer-resistant plants. More fragrant plants will often deter predation. Planting just a few deer-resistant plants will limit grazing of your other plants. Remember, "deer-resistant" does not mean deer-proof. A hungry animal will eat just about anything.

Having a dog In the Family

Owning a dog, especially a big dog will almost always keep deer from approaching your home. Just the scent of the dog will keep most deer away, and if your dog lives outside you will probably never see any deer.

For most gardeners, it is a combination of different solutions that works best. Every gardener has to find the solution that works best in their garden.

Shop All Deer-resistant Plants

Calycanthus Floridus
Carolina Allspice

Planting:

Easily transplanted. Set out about 10 feet apart. Will grow in sun or shade, taller in the latter. Widely adaptable as to soil types, will grow in acid or alkaline soils, but best in a deep, moist loam.

Maintenance:

Requires little attention. What pruning is needed is to maintain desirable form should be done after flowering.

Zones:

Zones 4 to 9.

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