This versatile and easy-to-grow hardy geranium is a great choice for an evergreen perennial that is deer resistant, drought tolerant in part shade, and even gets fall color.
When looking for deer resistant plants it’s always imortant to seek out scented plants, especially leaves with a strong smell. ‘Biokovo’ Geranium is one of the rare perennials to have a strong, spicy scent that is not Meditteranean or needing lots of sun. It performs best in a cool location with morning sun or at least protection from the hottest part of the day. The broad, lobed leaves provide striking contrast to finer leafed perennials and grasses.
‘Biokovo’ spreads by rhizomes to make a nice spreading mound about 6-10″ tall and 2-3′ wide and can be a bit aggressive so make sure it’s neighbors can hold its own. Dainty, pale pink to white flowers with pink stamens emerge in late spring through summer, but this perennial remains interesting all year. The variety ‘Cambridge Blue’ is similar except with a lavender-blue flower. We usually have several varieties of hardy Geranium in stock; they’re great, tough, long-blooming perennials!
Cool fall weather brings out vibrant red and gold tones in some of the leaves but the leaves don’t go completely dormant so you won’t have an empty spot there in the winter. This tough geranium can be drought tolerant once established but will look freshest with regular water and a shearing after winter. A great groundcover for use with bulbs as it will mask fading bulb leaves and add flower interest after the bulb flowers are done. This is our go-to plant for a deer infested shade garden!