Solved Hardy Geranium: Is this a weed or real one

I observe this one for same time. It doesn’t grow fast enough to be one of the common weeds that you can find everywhere. On the other hand, I haven’t seen a Hardy Geranium with red stems.

Grateful for your thoughts on the picture.



Taken with the iPhone.

 

Could be Herb Robert @simone_in_wiltshire .

What is herb robert?

 

Looks like Herb Robert to me.

 

Thanks Plantminded. This is what I think too. It probably came from the soil that I used

@Tidemark Thanks for confirming my suspicion.

 

It grows in my garden and I quite like it. It’s small and inoffensive and easy to pull out when you get bored with it.

 

I have it now and then as a young plant, but get rid of it immediately.
I saw my neighbour’s garden last year, and what happens if you leave it. It was like an explosion and ended in a mess.

 

If it is herb robert you will know when you pull some of it out from the strong smell...not very nice.

 

I don't mind the smell and it fills the odd gap. Easy to pull out when it's spent or in the wrong place.
Not the plant unless you have a a laissez faire garden, perhaps, but I like it.

 

Agree; when you have a garden like mine that's overrun with small teasel, dock, cleavers, ragwort etc, Herb Robert does not feel like much of a problem!

 

If you want something similar yet different in milder areas you could try Geranium yeoii which is G robertianum on steroids self seeds with me, no smell though.

 

thats one of the common native hardy geraniums around here. i dont mind it as a weed as its easy to pull up and has little pink flowers. if its really drought resistricted it can go bright red which is pretty. there are quite a few species of geranium native to hampshire where I am though

geranium is an easier genus to collect seeds from, if you go out and see any around. they have long spikes with a single brown seed on the end. i think the spikes get caught in birds feathers or something like that.

 

@On the Levels @Escarpment @NigelJ @Adam I Thanks for all you comments on this and it's again very informative.
I had bought Hardy Geranium seeds in March and this plant in my picture was in my seed tray. That's why I assumed first it's a Hardy Geranium. As soon as it got red spiky stems, I got suspicious.
I don't need more Geraniums this year. I got two out of the 25 seeds which is fine.
If I need to replace one of the existing Hardy Geraniums, I will buy a plant from the GC. Growing from seeds is not very reliable.

This thread can be closed as Solved.

 

@Adam I
Geranium (Cranesbill) and Erodium (Storksbill) seed heads explosively dehisce on drying out and fling the seed away from the parent plant. To collect seed look for plants where the bill is turning brown, wait for the dew to dry off and then collect and keep in a paper bag until they explode.