| Description | Geranium Espresso (Geranium maculatum) is a brown/green chocolate colored foliage cultivar of the native Geranium. |
|---|---|
| Plant Type | Perennials Hardy |
| Hardiness Zone | 5-8 |
| Sunlight | full, mostly sunny, some shade |
| Moisture | average, foliage holds form and color longer if moisture is provided during dry spells |
| Soil & Site | average |
| Flowers | lavender to pale pink, 5 petals |
| Fruit | beaked seed capsule, looks like a Canes bill hence one of the common names Cranes bill (#144) |
| Leaves | chocolate colored (green-brown), color best in full sun, greener in shaded sites, palmately 5-lobed |
| Dimensions | 18 by 18 inches (HS), forms a loose mound |
| Maintenance | when foliage becomes tattered and floppy it can be cut back hard |
| Propagation | division |
| Cultivar Origin | Found by Dick Lighty in Mount Cuba Delaware (USA) and North Creek Nursery in Landeberg Pennsylvania (USA) (#234) |
| Misc Facts | Genus name comes from the Greek word geranos meaning crane in reference to the fruit which purportedly resembles the head and beak of a crane |
| Author's Notes | The first time I saw this plant it was blooming and in great form. I came back to the Arboretum a couple months later and was cut back starting to regrow its foliage. |
| Notes & Reference | #144-Missouri Botanical Gardens web site (www.missouribotanicalgarden.org), #234-Plant Lovers Guide to Hardy Geraniums (Robin Parer) |
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