Tennessee Smart Yards Native Plants
A comprehensive database of Tennessee native plants
Wild Geranium
 Wikipedia Photo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page  Photo Courtesy John Hilty http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/ |
Wild GeraniumGeranium maculatumPart sun to open shade, medium to moderately dry moisture level, prefers organically rich soil but tolerates poor soil, moderately acid to neutral pH. 1 ½ -2 feet height, blooms in spring, pink flowers, spreads by rhizomes and will re-seed.Germination Code: C(60), MNative Region: StatewideShowy 5-petaled flowers with attractive deeply cut leaves. Foliage yellows or dies off in hot summers if soil is allowed to dry out. Can tolerate full sun with sufficient moisture. Not aggressive even though it spreads by rhizomes. Seed pod has a unique catapult system that dispenses seeds for quite a distance. Attracts birds and bees.flower;sun/shade;medium;clay |
Tennessee Smart Yards Native Plants 
This is a lovely flower and a definite standard in the native plant shade garden. I did make one mistake — I bought an entire flat of them. If you have a little patience, a large purchase is entirely unnecessary. These things have an uncanny ability to shoot seeds out, and now I have loads of them. Buy just a few and place them at strategic points in your garden, areas where you want more plants. You will get them! You might want to use planting locations in large areas of shade or part shade because the plants will also shoot their seeds into nearby sunny dry areas and when these plants grow up, they will get very stressed and unattractive when summer arrives.