A lovely choice for your native wildflower garden, Sticky Purple Geranium is an easygoing plant that adapts well to different environments. See this post for more native plants that bloom in early summer, or this one if you want to hear arguments for why to incorporate native plants into your gardens!
Growth Habits
Growing up to 1-3 feet tall and wide, Sticky Purple Geranium is fairly flexible as to soil moisture and sun. They can tolerate dry soil, which is ideal for areas with water restrictions.
A bit of a sprawling plant, its leaves are deeply lobed and many-toothed, but sparse. The stems are long and thin but surprisingly strong! The stems and leaves are covered in fine, sticky hairs.
Fun fact: this plant is protocarnivorous, meaning that it can dissolve insects that become trapped on their sticky leaves. How fascinating is that?!
Blooms
Sticky Purple Geranium blooms from May or June until September.
The common name implies that blooms are purple, although in my experience they often lean more towards pink and sometimes almost white! The flowers are about 1 1/2 inches across.
Fall leaf color is a gorgeous, vibrant red.
Below photo is Sticky Purple Geranium in the actual wild (Waterton, June 2024). I spotted them frequently throughout the park, along with many other wildflowers. (Side note- late June is an ideal time to visit the Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, if you’re interested in wildflowers!)
Plant With…
Common Yarrow’s feathery foliage contrasts beautifully with the large leaves of Sticky Purple Geranium.
Other native plants to try alongside this geranium are Silvery Lupine, Wild Strawberries as groundcover, and native grasses.
Insects and Wildlife
Multiple varieties of native bees as well as butterflies, wasps, and other bugs are particularly fond of Sticky Purple Geranium. The plant is rarely bothered by pests or disease.
Deer typically will leave this plant alone (although a hungry deer will eat just about anything!).
In Conclusion
The ease of growing these native geraniums, their benefits to insect life, and their appearance make these a highly recommended addition to your native wildflower garden! If not for any of those valuable reasons, their unusually bright fall color or the fact that they’re less palatable to deer may convince you to try these out.
Check out this post if you want to learn more about planting native plant plugs.
Happy Gardening!
