Wild Geranium

Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

Wild Geranium, also known as Spotted Geranium or Cranesbill, is a graceful native woodland perennial with soft lavender-pink flowers and deeply lobed foliage. Blooming in spring and thriving in part shade, Geranium maculatum is an essential plant for naturalistic gardens, forest edges, and pollinator habitats. It offers early nectar for emerging bees and serves as a low-maintenance ground cover that naturalizes beautifully in woodland settings.

Key Characteristics

• Early Blooms for Spring Pollinators
  Flowering from April through June, Wild Geranium provides an important early-season nectar and pollen source for native bees, including mason bees, mining bees (Andrena spp.), and syrphid flies. Its open-faced flowers are easy for insects to access and support pollinator succession from spring ephemerals into summer bloomers.

• Ideal for Shade Gardens and Woodland Edges
  Wild Geranium thrives in dappled sunlight or part shade with medium soils, making it perfect for understory plantings beneath trees, along woodland edges, or in shady garden beds. Its foliage remains attractive throughout the growing season.

• Naturalistic Groundcover and Low Border Plant
  With its clumping habit and slow rhizomatous spread, it forms a lush ground layer without becoming invasive. Its foliage turns a soft yellow in fall, adding subtle seasonal interest.

• Supports Native Insects and Biodiversity
  In addition to supporting bees, Wild Geranium provides food and shelter for beneficial insects and helps stabilize soil in forest restoration projects. It is a larval host for the geranium plume moth (Amblyptilia pica), contributing to lepidopteran diversity.

• Low Maintenance and Long-Lived
  Once established, it is drought-tolerant and deer-resistant, with few pest issues. It self-seeds modestly in natural areas, helping it form beautiful drifts over time in suitable conditions.

Product Details

• Native range: Eastern and central North America

• Plant life cycle: Perennial

• Sun requirements: Part shade to full shade; tolerates morning sun

• Soil requirements: Medium, well-drained; tolerates slightly dry or rich woodland soils

• Mature height: 12–24 inches

• Bloom time: April–June

• Bloom color: Lavender to soft pink

• USDA Hardiness zones: 3–8

Wild Geranium is a graceful, dependable native that bridges spring and summer in woodland gardens. Its soft flowers, ecological benefits, and adaptability make it a top choice for shady, biodiverse plantings.