Geranium 'Raven'

This Geranium phaeum blooms first in May and then reblooms later in the summer, staying colorful all the way into August! The broad, flat blooms make an extremely impressive display when viewed head-on. A small nimbus of white circles the middle of the bloom, while the petals are a shiny near-black with hues of red, purple, and blue mixed in.

'Raven' is an easy and reliable choice for any garden. It is resistant to drought and the ravages of slugs and rabbits. The only fauna it attracts are bees and other pollinators (read "butterflies"!). It swiftly grows to its mature height of 18 to 24 inches tall and wide. Fantastic for bedding, borders, patio, and containers in the South and Southwest, where many Geraniums have short and unsatisfactory bloom seasons.

'Raven' displays a remarkable bloom time. Intensely colored 1-inch blooms of nearly-black purple with a white eye begin appearing on this graceful plant in early summer, and unlike most Geraniums (which fizzle when the temperature climbs too high), keep coming until early fall. The reblooming display can stretch from May through until August!

This hardy geranium is very easy to grow: just plant it in average, well-drained soil and it does the rest! Space 18 inches apart. Give 'Raven' some shade in hot and dry climates. Zones 5 to 8.

• 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

Plant Deer-resistant Varieties

Having a dog In the Family

Shop All Deer-resistant Plants

Set out plants 12 to 15 inches apart in a sunny situation and in virtually any light, welldrained soil. Once established, geraniums will tolerate periods of drought, but perform optimally in moisture-retentive soils; we recommend a summer mulch, especially during the spring flush of growth and where summers are quite warm. Some species will tolerate light or partial shade.

Geraniums will take about two years to become fully established. Once they’ve done so, they’ll quickly grow and colonize. An annual top-dressing with a balanced fertilizer or compost is beneficial and will improve flower production. Divide as it becomes necessary.

Zones 3-8

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The dry, sparse appearance of bareroot perennials can be alarming to the novice gardener, but in reality ordering bare root is often the smarter choice. Foliage and blooms can be seductive, but the health and long-term potential of a plant truly lies in its roots. Bareroot plants have several advantages over plants in containers—bare roots are less likely to be harmed in the shipping process, their timing is easier to control, and they are field-grown for larger, healthier root systems. This why Wayside Gardens has had great success with bare root plants, and you can too!

It is safer to ship plants in bareroot form because there is no risk in harming new growth, and therefore the plant actually has a better chance of making it safely into the customer’s garden.

And thanks to refrigerated storage, the timing of bareroot perennials can be precisely controlled. "(Bareroot perennials) are dormant," explains JPPA Lead Horticulturist Benjamin Chester, "But as soon as they leave the refrigerated storage they'll begin breaking dormancy." And once the plant 'wakes up', it is ready to begin the growing season in earnest, which means it will quickly catch up to the level of container plants.

The most important benefit of bareroot perennials is that they can be field grown rather than confined to containers. The bareroot Cherry Cheesecake Hibiscus pictured hereperfectly illustrates the difference between a field-grown perennial and a containerized one. Wayside Gardens used to offer this variety in a quart container, like the Monarda next to it. But the Hibiscus was simply too cramped in that space, so Wayside switched to growing it in the earth and selling it bare root. The result is a thick, fibrous mass of roots that used to fill up several cubic feet of soil and which, even in its bare, pruned form would be too large to fit back into the 1 Quart container. What a difference a little space makes! While small and slow-growing cultivars can start well in containers, large and vigorous cultivars need more room to stretch out and develop a solid root system.