Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia

Promoting environmentally sound gardening practices for over 35 years!

Mertensia virginica en masse.
Mertensia virginica en masse. Photo © Mary Free
You are here: Home / Plants / Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic / Perennials / Geranium maculatum (Wild or Spotted Geranium)

Geranium maculatum (Wild or Spotted Geranium)

Geranium maculatum (wild geranium) with Aquilegia canadensis (wild columbine) in Simpson's Shade Garden in May 2020.
Distinctive fruit of Geranium maculatum (Wild Geranium) resembles the bill of a crane.

Note: Click on images to see enlarged photos, captions, and photo attributions.
On a mobile phone, click on the information symbol (circle with a letter ℹ︎ symbol).

This native wildflower grows in deciduous woods and dappled meadows throughout eastern North America.* Its alternative common name, Cranesbill, refers to its distinctive seed capsule, which resembles a crane’s bill. The Virginia Native Plant Society honored it as Wildflower of the Year in 2020. Perennial Flowers, Buds, Fruit, En Masse Height: 11⁄2–2 feet Spread: 1–11⁄2 feet Bloom Color: Light pink, dark pink, lilac Characteristics Clump-forming, semi-evergreen herbaceous perennial Palmate, 3–5-lobed, deeply cleft, coarsely-toothed leaves, medium green w/ appressed hairs above 5-petaled, mostly protandrous** flowers bloom in loose clusters on upright stems April to July Explosive, beak-like fruit (schizocarp) Spreads by rhizomes, but not aggressively Attributes Tolerates clay soil, poor soil, dry soil, drought, poor drainage, and rabbits; no serious pests or diseases; deer occasionally severely damage Ethnobotanic, therapeutic, and herbal uses Attracts bees, syrphid flies, and butterflies to flowers and mourning doves, quail, and deer to seeds; genus is larval host to 21 species of Lepidoptera Growing and Maintenance Tips Soil Requirements: Well-drained, average Light Requirements: Sun, Partial Shade Water Requirements: Moist Excellent Replacement for Alliaria petiolata - Garlic Mustard Vinca minor - Periwinkle If sited in full sun, needs more moisture Use under trees (especially white oak) and in woodland gardens *It is native in DC. It is common throughout much of PA and in the DE Piedmont but is uncommon in the DE Coastal Plain. In VA it is common in the mountains and the Piedmont but rare in the Coastal Plain. ** The second picture illustrates protandry (male parts mature before the female), which helps prevent self-pollination. The flower to the left is in the male phase: anthers producing pollen and stigmas absent. The flower entering the female phase shows withering anthers and five emerging stigma branches. Foliage yellows or declines in heat and dry soil Hardiness: USDA Zones 3–8 developed by Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia, serving Arlington and Alexandria Images by Mary Free, Quarry Shade Garden and Simpson Gardens and by Elaine Mills (bottom right), U.S. National Arboretum

Tried and True Native Plant Selections
for the Mid-Atlantic

Print Version (Legal Size):
Geranium maculatum (Wild or Spotted Geranium)

This native wildflower grows in deciduous woods and dappled meadows throughout eastern North America.* Its alternative common name, Cranesbill, refers to its distinctive seed capsule, which resembles a crane’s bill. The Virginia Native Plant Society honored Wild Geranium as Wildflower of the Year in 2020.

*It is native in DC. It is common throughout much of PA and in the DE Piedmont but is uncommon in the DE Coastal Plain. In VA it is common in the mountains and the Piedmont but rare in the Coastal Plain.

Learn more about other Mid-Atlantic plants: 
Tried and True Native Plant Fact Sheets

Back to Top