New Pink Geranium Dove’s Foot Cranesbill

Found a new geranium in upstate New York. New to me that is. Saw it last autumn while walking on a drive next to the Pine Bush in Albany County. It was a low-growing roadside weed with a pretty pink flower. I remember it appeared to be a geranium, similar to wild geranium but much smaller. It was growing at the edge of the Pine Bush Preserve, along a two-lane road, between the trees and the road.

Dug up a couple sections of root and carried them in plastic grocery bags. The greenery was still lifelike in October. Transplanted them back here on the mountain top, as we like to call our place in the woods on the mountain ridge, on the east side of the house in worked up soil with oak leaf mulch.

This spring I see the little geranium is coming back to life. The transplant was a success! Now, I’ll have to watch and wait for the flowers. I thought it might make a nice ornamental cover grass for areas under trees or among azaleas along the house, which is where the bit was transplanted to. Photos taken 24Mar2010.

From the pictures in my favorite wildflower guides, Peterson Wildflowers and Newcomb’s Wildflowers, I think the little geranium is the Dove’s Foot Cranesbill, Geranium molle.

Found in waste places and lawns, it’s another roadside weed. A pretty one though. Photos of the flowers will have to wait until summer.