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Geranium pusillum

small-flowered Crane's-bill

Geraniaceae

Europe, North Africa, and western Asia

Attracts Pollinators Drought Tolerant

SunFull Sun – Part Shade

WaterLow · drought-tolerant

Overview

Geranium pusillum is a slender annual or occasionally biennial reaching 4-16 inches (10-40 cm) tall with a loosely branched, spreading to ascending habit. The stems are soft, covered in short hairs, and branch freely from the base. Leaves are rounded in outline, 0.4-2 inches (1-5 cm) wide, palmately cut into five to nine wedge-shaped lobes that are themselves further divided toward the tips. Flowers are small, 0.2-0.3 inch (4-7 mm) across, with five notched petals in pale lilac to mauve-pink, carried in pairs on slender stalks. Each flower is followed by a beaked fruit typical of the genus, splitting into five one-seeded segments that disperse as the column dries and curls. It flowers over a long season from late spring into autumn and self-seeds freely on light soils. Geranium pusillum grows on cultivated ground, roadsides, dry banks, and waste places, favoring sandy or gravelly soil. A limitation in cultivated settings is its weedy persistence, as buried seed can germinate over several seasons.

Native Range

Geranium pusillum is native to Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. It has naturalized widely in North America and other temperate regions, where it grows as a weed of disturbed and cultivated ground.

Suggested Uses

Geranium pusillum is not generally grown as an ornamental and is most often encountered as a weed of gardens, fields, and waste ground. Where present it forms low ground cover on dry soils and supports small bees and hoverflies that visit the flowers.

How to Identify

Recognized by rounded leaves divided into five to nine wedge-shaped lobes and small pale lilac flowers 0.2-0.3 inch (4-7 mm) across with notched petals. The very small flower size separates it from larger-flowered cranesbills such as G. molle, with which it often grows. The hairy, beaked seed capsules and paired flower stalks confirm identity.

Appearance

Size & Dimensions

Height4" - 1'4"

Width/Spread6" - 1'

Colors

Flower Colors

Foliage Colors

Fall Foliage Colors

Bloom Information

Bloom Period

~18 weeks

Spring Summer Fall

Flowering extends from late spring through autumn, roughly May to September, with peak bloom in early summer. Individual flowers are short-lived but appear continuously as new stems develop. Seed set overlaps with flowering, so capsules and open flowers are present together for much of the season.

Detailed Descriptions

Flower Description

pale lilac to mauve-pink

Foliage Description

green

Growing Conditions

Sun Requirements

SunFull Sun SunPartial Shade

Requires 4-8 hours of direct sunlight daily

• Full Sun: 6+ hours of direct sunlight

• Partial Shade: 3-6 hours of direct sunlight

• Full Shade: Less than 3 hours of direct sunlight

Soil Requirements

pH Range6.0 - 7.5(Neutral)

357912

Soil Types

sand loam rocky

Drainagewell drained

Water & Climate

Water Needs

Low

Drought Tolerance

Drought tolerant when established

Care & Maintenance

Care Guide

Geranium pusillum grows in full sun to light shade on freely drained sandy, gravelly, or loamy soils. It tolerates dry, low-fertility conditions and a soil pH from about 6.0 to 7.5. As an annual it requires no feeding or irrigation once established and completes its cycle within a single year. Plants set abundant seed, and seedlings emerge in flushes from spring through autumn. On cultivated ground it spreads quickly into bare soil. Hoeing or hand-pulling before the capsules ripen reduces the seed bank.

Pruning

No pruning is needed for this short-lived annual. Plants die after seeding and can be cleared once growth collapses in autumn. Cutting or pulling stems before the beaked capsules mature limits self-seeding.