Native Perennial
Sun Exposure: Part Shade to Shade
Soil Moisture: Medium, moist
Height: 2'
Bloom Time: April to June
Bloom Color: White, Pink, Purple
Attracts: Birds, native bees
Pollinator benefits: Xerces Society rating: Special Value for Bumble Bees; Special Value to Native Bees (Recognized by pollination ecologists as attracting large numbers of native bees.)
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Wild Geranium, aka Cranesbill (Geranium maculatum) Showy, pink, five-petaled flowers, occur at the top of leafy, 1-3 ft. stem. Lavender flowers are in loose clusters of 2-5 at the ends of branches above a pair of deeply 5-lobed leaves. In addition to its flowers, this perennial is well known for its 5- to 6-parted, deeply cut leaves. It colonizes by thick rhizomes but is not aggressive.
Geraniums are recognized by their palmately-lobed leaves and distinctive capsules. The common name cranesbill, as well as the genus name, from the Greek geranos ("a crane"), relate to the bill-like capsule after flowering.
www.wildflower.org