If it seemed adequately watered and in enough shade to not be scorched you may be watering it too much. It could be rotting or waterlogged.... if you amended with too much fertilizer it also may have a "burn"

This is an awfully tough plant. This spring, almost as an afterthought, I dug some up, broke the rhizones into pieces, planted them in various spots all around the yard, and they all bloomed within a week of replanting. I'd also guess that you're killing it with kindness.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll cut back on the watering and see if that helps. I had read in various native plant books and on this forum that, while you can leave appropriately sited natives alone eventually, you should water the first year, as they adjust to their new homes. We've had a wet spring, though, so maybe nature is taking care of this chore for me. (Also, I think I've been watering the two plants about the same, so if it's a watering issue, why is one thriving and the other one sickly? Different drainage conditions?)

Two recent field trips confirm Elaine's experience with G. maculatum's adaptability. Today, I took a walk in an Audubon sanctuary in southeastern Massachusetts and saw some growing in swampy conditions in deep shade amid jewelweed and skunk cabbage (and mosquitoes). Last weekend, I was in a state park in northeastern Mass. and saw hundreds of wild geraniums in a much drier and sunnier situation, in open woods overlooking a quarry, next to chokecherry and bluets.

Could there be a pH issue? My soil is fairly acidic, between 5 and 6. I thought I had read that Geranium maculatum would be OK with this pH.

- wd