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| Lawn Geranium; Geranium molle L. |
Geranium Family; GERANIACEÆ
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| Disregarding thirteen plant of the month articles, this is Tilth's 60th weed of the month, our Diamond Jubilee. Lawn or
Dove's-foot Geranium is a cute little pest whose bright pink flowers serve as our jewel. |
| Everyone knows the common houseplant geraniums, scented or otherwise, which are various members of the genus
Pelargonium. The genus Geranium is closely related but besides differing in scientific details, is a group of hardy plants, a few of which
are weedy. One such weed, Herb Robert (Geranium
Robertianum) was featured in the December 1986 newsletter. Now meet its
less glamorous cousin. |
| Lawn Geranium is a European annual herb that thrives in our poor lawns, disturbed soil and sunny corners generally. It
grows low, at most usually about eight inches tall, forming a dense clump, with roundish leaves nickel- or quarter-sized, more or less
divided into lobes. From late March through June the plant is most obvious, flowering fully. Its deep pink flowers are simply charming.
After June it tends to slow, becoming rather seedy and worn. In autumn it can rejuvenate. |
Softness is the most remarkable thing about Lawn Geranium. Caress the plant and smell its faint fragrance: you'll be reminded
of the softest, most delicately scented toilet tissue. It is too hairy too eat, too weak for medicinal use, has no dye value, and is not even
a serious weed, being easily controlled. The poor thing is thus noteworthy only as a soft, pretty, relatively unimportant weed. In
this sense it might serve well as an emblem of the vice presidency.
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Originally published as the Seattle Tilth newsletter Weed of the Month in April 1992, along with an illustration from a book.
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