Wild Geranium
Geranium maculatum L.
Family: Geraniaceae (geranium)
- Bloom Period:
- Early,
- Growth Cycle:
- Perennial,
- Growth Habit:
- Forbs/Herbs,
- Insect Type Attracted:
- Natural Enemy,
- Pollinator,
- Light:
- Full,
- Partial,
- Region:
- Northern Lower Peninsula,
- Southern Lower Peninsula
- Soil Moisture:
- Medium,
- Height:
- 1-2ft
Natural enemies attracted
Mildly attractive: Chalcidoidea, Salticidae, and Cynipoidea.
Pollinators attracted
Minimually attractive: bees
Pests attracted
Mildly attractive: thrips, lygus bugs, froghoppers, leafhoppers and aphids.
Plant notes
Has attractive pale pink to lavender flowers and bloomed from mid-May through early June. Attractive maple-leaf like foliage dies back after bloom, but some remains green through the summer. This species was the third least attractive to natural enemies in the early season.
Habitat
Wild Geranium tolerates full sun to partial shade, and mid-range soil moisture (neither very wet nor very dry). It naturally occurs in rich deciduous woods, including moist sites such as pond borders, streamsides and swamp forests. It usually grows in rich deciduous forests.
Cultivation and management
This plant flowers from seed in its second or third year. It can also be grown from plug material (flowers in first or second year). This plant is showy and long-lived.