Tennessee ecotype
- Duration: Perennial, ephemeral
- Habit: Low, clumping
- Size: <1-2 ft. tall/wide
- Blooms: Mar, Apr, May, Jun; heaviest in April to May
- Habitat: Moist to dry woods, dappled meadows, forest edges
- Moisture: Moist to average, must be well draining
- Light: Part sun to heavy shade; does not prefer full sun.
- Soils: Loamy, high in organic matter
- Uses: woodland gardens, shade gardens, cottage gardens, rain garden, front of border
Geranium maculatum (Wild geranium)
Also known as spotted cranesbill. Wild geranium prefers rich, damp soil high in organic matter common of deciduous forests, but is quite adaptable to most garden soils so long as they are well draining. It grows in dappled sun and light shade, making it a great woodland, shade, or forest edge species. Commonly found in undisturbed wooded areas in the wild alongside wild ephemerals such as bellwort, bloodroot, mayapple, and trilliums.
Wild geranium prefers soils high in organic matter for the best growth, but does well in average moisture. It does not tolerate high clay content, so soil should be very well and widely amended with organic matter if it is being planted in such a site. Brighter light means heavier pink-lavender blooms, which peak in May and June, and sporadically through the rest of the season.
Its thick webbed rhizomes can be dug up and easily divided in fall, or can be done in or early spring, but expect few to no blooms.
Bumblebees, solitary bees, syrphid flies, ants and beetles pollinate the pink to lavender five petalled flowers. Wild geranium blooms are a food source for a rare specialist pollinator bee, the Cranesbill Miner (Andrena distans), which can only survive by using this species. Geraniums are also an important larval host plant for several species of butterflies and moths.