Pelargonium species are evergreen perennials indigenous to Southern Africa, and are drought and heat tolerant, but can tolerate only minor frosts. They are commonly known as geraniums.

Garden geranium.

Taken with Nikon D70s

From a container on the front porch. There's a very tiny insect on an upper right petal - not sure how well it shows here.

Samsung camera pictures

Cranesbill Geranium (Geranium sanguineum), comes in colors ranging from pinks, blues and vivid purples to subdued whites. Species in the Geranium genus have a distinctive mechanism for seed dispersal. This consists of a beak-like column which springs open when ripe and casts the seeds some distance. The common name ‘cranesbill’ comes from the shape of the unsprung column, which in some species is long and looks like the bill of a crane.

My photographs are available for purchase through EliseCreations.net

Thanks for your visits, favs and comments. As always, appreciated very much!

© all rights reserved by Elise T. Marks. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

in my garden

I am not too sure of the ID of this but just liked its colour and delicate detail.

Friend's garden, Seattle WA

On our deck

Geranium x magnificum, growing wild.

And a bug (see original size)

From Waterton National Park. Spent the past five days at the 9th Annual Waterton Wildflower Festival. Wow. There are so many hundreds of varieties of wildflowers in this very special place and this Geranium variety is just starting to bloom so thought I would share.

The spectacular setting of Waterton Lakes National Park is home to more than 50 per cent of Alberta's wildflowers... more than any other Rocky Mountain national park. Over 50 of Canada's rare flowers grow in Waterton, 30 of which are found only in this park.

From beargrass to orchids, nature is on display in a panorama of blossoms among prairies and peaks. This amazing diversity of wildflowers will be celebrated in the annual Waterton Wildflower Festival (Wilfdlower Site)

Pretty

Uploaded with the Flock Browser

A different view

Geranium lucidum L.

Shining Crane's-bill, DE: Gläzender Storchschnabel

Slo.: bleščeča krvomočnica

Dat.: May 16. 2016

Lat.: 46.35133 Long.: 13.69344

Code: Bot_957/2016_DSC2154

Habitat: semiruderal road side, next to river bed, calcareous, sandy ground; partly shady, humid place (air and ground); average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7-9 deg C, elevation 520 m (1.700 feet), alpine phytogeographical region.

Substratum: soil.

Place: Lower Trenta valley, between villages Soča and Trenta, between main road to Vršič pass and river Soča, next to Trenta 46 farmhouse, East Julian Alps, Posočje, Slovenia EC.

Comment: Geranium lucidum is a Mediterranean plant growing in the whole Mediterranean region but also outside it. In the Alps one can find it in their far west part, on their south edge in north Italy around Bergamo and in their extreme northeast part in Niederösterreich, where it is extremely rare and facing extinction (Ref.6). It grows also in Apennines, Pyreneans and Carpathians as well as in Balkan mountains. It grows from low land to montane elevations (Ref.2).

To my knowledge this find seems to be the first in the Julian Alps. Flora Alpina (2004) Ref.2 doesn't refer presence of Geranium lucidum in Slovenian Alps. Also Slovenian key (2007), Ref.3 and Gradivo za Atlas, Ref.4 does not show its presence in Alpine phytogeographical region of Slovenia. The closest reference I found is in Nuovo Atlante... (2002), Ref.5 where it has been found in UTM square 6746 in Outer Julian Prealps near Tarcento, Italy. The site is still quite far from this location.

The habitat of this find is mostly semi-ruderal; just next to the main asphalt road from town Bovec to Vršič pass, around the abandoned farmhouse Soča 46 and on a large pile of rocks gathered together during cleaning grassland around the farmhouse. It is almost sure that the site is sub-spontaneous, although I have no idea how could the plants come to this place. First World War with its two years of fixed front line crossing the region, which provenly introduced several new species to Slovenia through huge quantities of hay for army horses brought in from all parts of Austro-Hungarian empire, could hardly be an explanation. The plant is not showy and is considered a weed in horticulture, so nobody would plant it intentionally. The most probable way seems to be to be introduced by other garden plants, which still grow 'wild' around the abandoned house.

The population is large counting several hundred flowering plants in a region of about 100 x 40 m.

Ref.:

(1) Identification confirmed by Dr. Igor Dakskobler, Natural History Institute Jovan Hadži, SAZU.

(2) D. Aeschimann, K. Lauber, D.M. Moser, J.P. Theurillat, Flora Alpina, Vol. 1., Haupt (2004), p 1060.

(3) A. Martinči et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key) (in Slovenian), Tehnična Založba Slovenije (2007), p 350.

(4) N. Jogan (ed.), Gradivo za Atlas flore Slovenije (Materials for the Atlas of Flora of Slovenia), CKSF (2001), p 179

(5) L. Poldini, Nuovo Atlante corologico delle piante vascolari nel Friuli Venezia Giulia, University of Trieste (2002), p 227.

(6) M.A. Fischer, W. Adler, K. Oswald, Exkursionsflora für Österreich, Liechtenstein und Südtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 412.

Nikon D700 / Nikkor Micro 105mm/f2.8

Geranium x magnificum

HPPT!

Geranium flowers from my garden :D.

June 2009.

Geranium