Wild Geranium
The scientific name for the Wild Geranium is Geranium maculatum. It is also known as a Wood Geranium or a Spotted Geranium, and has such local names as Alum Bloom, Alum Root, and Old Maid’s Nightcap. In Europe, they refer to the Wild Geranium as a Wild Cranesbill or a Spotted Cranesbill. It is native to the Eastern portion of North America, from Southern Manitoba and Southwestern Quebec in Canada south to Georgia and westward to South Dakota and Oklahoma. The Wild Geranium can also be grown as a garden plant.
Flowers bloom on a Wild Geranium plant in the spring between April and June, and are usually a purplish color though they can vary toward pinkish. The plant can grow to be two feet high although it is most often half that height. The flowers are about an inch across, have five petals, and grow in clusters. The name, Cranesbill, comes from the way the seed capsule looks, like a crane’s bill. The capsule explodes to disburse the seeds which can be carried anywhere from ten to thirty feet. A seed can lie dormant for over a year and still grow to be a plant.
A Wild Geranium’s roots can run as deep as three or four inches. If they are under a canopy of trees, they will run closer to the surface and sometimes even break the surface. When this happens in colder regions, the buds will freeze. Wild Geraniums grown in greenhouse settings do not bloom until they are two and sometimes three years old. They may produce some flower buds the second year but usually need another year to have enough nutrients stored to bloom. The flowers are pollinated by bumblebees and honeybees.
You can find Wild Geraniums in all kinds of habitat, including meadows, woods and thickets. They like loamy soil that is a little bit acidic. The perfect pH level is 6.5. If there are openings in the woodland canopy, you can often find large patches of Wild Geraniums growing. They like to be protected from the wind but don‘t mind shady conditions. Studies have shown that they thrive when growing near such trees as Red Maple, Yellow Poplar, Black Cherry, Beech, Northern Red Oak, and Sweet Birch.
You can see Wild Geraniums emerging out of the ground in the early spring (late March-beginning April). Flowers can appear anytime in May and June. After the flowers have died, the plant will take another month to set fruit. Flower buds are always formed the year before they bloom and live in a winter bud. In the fall, the leaves of the plant turn to red and yellow colors and are gone by October in the north. Southern plants become dormant in November and December.
If you wish to plant the Wild Geranium in your flower garden, you can obtain rootstock from a nursery. The plant is very hardy and does well in many variations of temperature and soil conditions.