“I found this flower growing under a tree in my yard this spring. Can you tell me what it is?” -Question from Laura in Reading, Pennsylvania

ANSWER: Hi Laura, Lucky you! You have a beautiful spotted geranium (Geranium maculatum) in your yard. This is not a weed! It’s a lovely native woodland perennial that can be found growing across eastern North America. It blooms in spring and then dies back a bit in the heat of summer.

Let it bloom and grow. You may even planting other complementary native woodland plants with it. Try the fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia), Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), and woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata).

Happy gardening!

Jessie