Plant-A-Day 2020 (Day 85) Geranium Macrorrhizum

About twenty years ago, I had a side hustle of doing garden chores for a homeowner in Fremont, the neighbor of a friend of mine who spent a lot of time out of town. One of the plants I tended there was this Bigroot geranium. The house had an entire border of these plants and I had to clean them up and root out the extra starts and a few found their way home with me. I planted a few in the Douglas fir bed and thanks to their generous nature, I’ve been able to add some to the bed next to the driveway and also a few to the memory garden. They make a good groundcover with interest for much of the year, with attractive leaves, pleasant flowers, and bright fall colors before they go dormant late in the year.

The plants spread quickly, but I wouldn’t call them invasive. They are easy to root out and move to another garden or pot up for sales or for friends. They also seed around a bit. I’ve had them pop up in pots near the house, but never in any alarming quantities.

Here are some current photos of the plants in the Douglas fir bed.

My 2020 plans for this plant are to trim back/clear out any extra starts to keep a little control of these in the various beds. I’ll pot up a few for plant sales or to give to neighbors, too.