Pic didn’t come through

how cold has it been ... could they just be behind ...

id probably give them another week or two.. see if they get their act together.. and if not.. i would dig them up and see if there was anything worth saving.. and if not.. be done with them ...

ken

Main issue is that there is varying degrees of this issue with a mass planting. I have 4 that look really bad, maybe 4 that look somewhat ok and then 10 that just pass for decent looking.

If its a root rot disease in the soil then I'm wondering if I should start replaceing with something else but that starts to mess up my design unless I replace everything

I'm on fool me once right now....

Any plant can develop a cultural root rot if drainage is poor and soils stay too wet. But that is different from a pathogenic root rot. FWIW, hardy geraniums are remarkably problem free with only a few, typically non-fatal, ailments affecting them. Gray mold (botrytis), powdery mildew, rust, a few leaf spots. But rarely any disease issues that would cause a wholesale dieback.

I'd suspect this is just a cultural condition and not pathogenic........too cold as plant was emerging, too much shade, soil stays too wet for too long, etc.

Crown rot is one of the most common diseases obersved on Cranesbill.

ONLY this plant is effected in three different beds - tied together visually. Other plants in the beds are Salvia, Ornamental Onion, Wegelia, Pine, Spruce and Hummelo to name a few.

Right now I'm ruling out any cultural condition as issue is only observed wth this species.

With that said would you still rule out pathogenic root rot and perhaps chaulk up to crown rot from being planting too deep? Although they don't look too deep. Last thing is that the mulch was closer to the crown that it should have been. However other than the woody plants listed above the same condition is observed with the other perennials.

Here is a better close-up - click to enlarge

I can pull some of the leafless stems right out of the crown