Geranium-like Yard Weed Pretty in Pink

This little hot pink weed drew my attention as I was weeding the herb patch.

It looks like a miniature Wild Geranium which blooms in late Spring, but this plant grows its vegetation in the summer and blooms a few months after the wild geraniums are done blooming for the year.

Hot Pink Geranium
Hot Pink Geranium

It is a geranium for sure, take a look at the simple flower construction and the long “beaked” seedpod at the top left.

How to find out which geranium, you ask? Of course the Internet can be your friend in seeking answers to all your questions, but sometimes an old-fashioned book is worth its weight in gold.

Try flipping through the color sections of Peterson’s Wildflower Field Guide to find a similar-looking drawing and read the specifics about your look-a-like plant. Match up the flower and leaf descriptions and you’re good to go!

Another great book to use for flowering plant identification is Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. It uses a key system to identify our pretty flowering friends. Decide if the flower construction is simple or irregular. If simple, how many repeating parts are there? In this case each flower has “5” pink petals. Answer similar questions to identify the plant type and leaf type and Newcomb will lead you to your flower.

If it’s a flower I’ve seen before and just can’t remember the name, I’ll flip through Peterson’s guide and usually find it quickly. Sometimes Newcomb’s guide can help you find a new plant faster, especially if it’s a flowering vine or shrub. Each book has their strengths and both are invaluable in the field, so take one along on your next wildflower walk.

May Bloomers and Bullfrogs

In the last week or so the high-pitched chirps of the Chorus Frogs and Spring Peepers have been replaced with bigger sounds. Bullfrogs down in the pond have been sounding off at dusk. We’ve been able to hear their “bud” calls drifting up the hill in early evening. That’s a sign that temperatures are warming up as we slide down the backside of Spring. In a month’s time the calendar will say it’s Summer.

The first two weeks in May we’ve seen the following wild flowers blooming:

Perennial chamomile and chives were blooming in the garden at this time.

Wild Geranium Gone to Seed

Wild geranium, Geranium maculatum, is a beautiful flowering herb that we see here on the mountain top. It flowers in the woodlands during May. The flowers grow in loose clusters at the stem tips. Stems are quite hairy and the seed pods themselves are very bristly. The long hairs on the seed pods and even on the seeds themselves aid animal dispersal of the seeds.

The beak of this wild geranium seed pod suggests the common name, Cranesbill.
The beak of this wild geranium seed pod suggests the common name, Cranesbill.

When the seeds are totally ripe the beak splits up the middle and each seed is attached to a curved piece of the old beak.

The seed capsule splits open with five seeds at the curled base.
The seed capsule splits open with five seeds at the curled base.

Note the bristles on the seed pods and seeds. Photos taken 6 June 2010. Click on any photo to see a larger view.

Wild Geranium Blooms During May in PA

Wild geranium is one of the first wild flowers that I learned once we moved to our place on the “mountain top”, which is a ridge top in the Ridge and Valley Province of the Appalachians in Pennsylvania. The large pastel-colored blossoms are a pleasant addition to the woodlands that are now green everywhere.

Wild Geranium, Geranium maculatum, also called Spotted Geranium, is a perennial that grows in open woods where sunlight reaches the forest floor. We find it along the lane, next to the farmer’s road, and at the edge of the field where the field meets the trees.

Large enough not to be missed by the casual woods walker, wild geranium flowers and leaves are prominent. The foliage is easy to spot so you can find it even when the flowers aren’t in bloom. The palmate leaves of wild geranium are deeply cut and have rounded teeth or lobes.

A nice specimen of wild geranium along the lane near the pond on 2 May 2010.
A nice specimen of wild geranium along the lane.
Flowering wild geranium along a country road.
Flowering wild geranium along a country road. Photo taken 17 May 2010.

In the image above note the rounded petals of the lilac-colored flowers. Five-petal flowers of lilac, pink or light purple occur in clusters at the stem tips.

Close up image of wild geranium blooms.
Close up image of wild geranium blooms.
Blooming wild geranium on 2 May 2010.
Blooming wild geranium on 2 May 2010.

Note that the drooping flower buds have not yet opened. When the wild geranium flowers are spent, the petals dry up, turn a deeper blue color and fall away.

Pink to faded blue flowers of wild geranium.
Pink to faded blue flowers of wild geranium.

New lilac and old blue flowers of wild geranium. Photo above taken 17 May 2010. From these observations it appears that Geranium maculatum has at least a two-week blooming period.

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Dove’s Foot Geranium Taking a Foot Hold

Last autumn I brought back a specimen of what I think is Dove’s Foot Geranium and planted it next to the house. The plant overwintered quite well, started growing in early spring, and now is spreading out.

New York geranium spreading out.
New York geranium spreading out.

In the image above, taken 2 May 2010, the large plant on the left overwintered in PA but was originally from NY. Note the new shoots – that must be arising from new roots – on the right of the original New York geranium.

We still look forward to its blooming later this summer. Once we can see the flower arrangement, flower size, and seedpods, we’ll be able to verify the Geranium species.

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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.

Dove's Foot Cranebill
Dove's Foot Cranebill

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.

Dove's Foot Cranebill Leaves Leaf Closeup
Dove's Foot Cranebill Leaves Leaf Closeup

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.

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