Geranium maculatum

Geranium maculatum: Woodland Wildflower, Garden-Bed Ready

Wild Geranium is a native that was doing woodland chic long before anybody put it on a mood board. Pale pink to lilac flowers, early nectar for the bees and seeds for the birds. THE ORIGINAL LOCAL CELEBRITY.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Geranium maculatum
• Common Name: Wild Geranium, Spotted Cranesbill
• Height: 45–60 cm (18–24 in)
• Spread: 30–45 cm (12–18 in)
• Flowers: Five-petalled, pale pink to lilac, about 2.5–4 cm (1–1.5 in) across, in loose clusters
• Bloom Time: Late spring to early summer (May to June)
• Foliage: Deeply cut, five-lobed, mid-green leaves, sometimes lightly mottled
• Features: Seeds eaten by birds

Where to Plant: Use it in a woodland garden, under a high tree canopy, at the edge of a shady border or in a native planting. It is happy in light woodland shade as well as sun, so it is an easy way to bring a local plant into a regular garden bed.

Companion Plants: Plant wild geranium in a sunny or part-shade native bed with flowers that carry on after its spring show. Anemone virginiana adds greenish-white thimbleweed at 60 to 90 cm from June to August. Monarda didyma brings scarlet bee balm at 60 to 120 cm from June to August. Symphyotrichum laeve adds lavender-blue asters at 60 to 100 cm from August to October. Elymus canadensis stands behind at 90 to 150 cm with nodding, bristly seed heads.

Plant Care: Plant it in moist, humus-rich soil that drains well. It handles clay and loam. In full sun it needs steady moisture; in part shade it's more forgiving. Water regularly through the first season. In a hot, dry summer the leaves may yellow and the plant may go partly dormant. That's normal, and it will be back next spring. Cut back tired foliage after flowering if you like. It can be divided in early spring or fall, and it will gently self-seed.

History: Wild geranium is native to woodlands across much of eastern North America, including southern Ontario and Quebec, and maculatum means spotted, a reference to the pale blotches that sometimes appear on older leaves. Indigenous peoples used the root in traditional medicine.

Final Thoughts: Plant it at the edge of the trees and let it do its thing. The deer rarely bother. HOMETOWN HERO, NO AUTOGRAPHS.