Questions about geraniums

I recently purchased two more hardy geraniums:

   Geranium renardii 'Tschelda'  
   Geranium sylvaticum 'Mayflower'

I found several references to these species on the mailing list, but
I have a number of questions:

   1.  Does anyone have the cultivar 'Tschelda'?  How does it differ
       from the species?  From reading the descriptions in various
       references it seems that the blooms may be a darker lavender,
       but I know nothing else about it.

   2.  My references all claim that G. renardii is hardy to zone 6, but 
       I'm in zone 5b.  I've also already planted it in a nice
       open, unprotected space by my front walk.

       I know that some people (i.e. Susan Campinini) have grown
       it right here in Urbana -- any secrets regarding frost
       protection?

   3.  When I made the new bed across the front of the house this
       spring I amended it heavily with spaghnum, sand, composted
       manure, and humus.  I think that this will work fine for
       G. sylvaticum and possibly for G. renardii -- when I dug
       the hole, I layered the bottom with gravel, sand, and then
       a 1:2 mixture of sand:amended soil.  Will that be good
       enough?  Or should I dig it up and put in a LOT more gravel
       and possibly some stones (I have a ton of old broken-up
       concrete in back that I can embed where necessary).

Any comments gratefully accepted -- especially useful ones.  :)

Chris
zone 5b USDA, E. Central Illinois
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index