Hardy geraniums are commonly recommended plants, they flower for a long time and are very reliable.
There are no problems with them – some plants are just all around winners!
_Yalan
Most non-native geraniums are not invasive and easy to control if getting out of hand.
Google, RHS and BSBI doesn’t flag anything about Sylvaticum being considered invasive either.
Aliktren
they spread, thats it – so if you dont want them to cover the entire bed where they are planted you need to keep control
Weaksoul
Great shelter for insects I find
Brave_Reaction_4968
I will not hear a word against hardy geraniums.
They make my garden
Ok_Durian_5595
Geranium Rosanne – not remotely invasive. Definitely one of the best garden plants
donatas_xyz
Not invasive at all. On the contrary – if you give it a bit too much of a Chelsea chop earlier in the summer – you will likely damage its growth and flowering until the next year. That’s why I leave geraniums to do their thing. Just what I’ve noticed in my own garden.
JeanVicquemare
hardy geranium, looks like Rozanne maybe. I love them.. They’re not a threat to displace native species as far as I know.
Uppernorwood
I’ve got one in a pot, the flowers have lasted since May so far with just watering and bit of tomato food.
No deadheading required at all.
Ideal!
luyc_
Looks more like Geranium Rozanne, a cultivated variety. It’s just great, no problems.
Appropriate_Math_136
Hack them back when they’ve flowered, and they go again. Also great for preventing beds being used as litter trays by neighbouring cats
madpiano
Wood cranesbill isn’t super invasive either. Like all Geraniums easily pulled up and doesn’t spread via roots, so only have to be pulled up once a year. I have the blue wood one and the pink smaller one in my garden and they thrive in one area of my garden. No maintenance.
florageek54
Your plant isn’t Geranium sylvaticum, but a very popular sterile (so it can’t seed around, so not invasive) hybrid called “Rozanne”.
different_tan
That look like rozanne? I have planted that everywhere as it actually flowers all summer and autumn, it’s great.
BritneyLynneSpears
They’re great, bomb-proof and the bugs love them. They just spill out a bit but respond really well to a trim so just cut him back if he starts overshadowing things
North-Star2443
A lot of people on Reddit don’t seem to understand what Invasive actually means and also seem to take a US stance on everything so they call things invasive that are invasive there but may be native to here. It’s worth grabbing a British plant ID book to check what you’ve got.
alexd979
looks so good with that rose too, what variety is it?
Mom_is_watching
Looks like Geranium Rozanne, a wonderful plant for the garden. Flowers are sterile so it doesn’t spread, although the plant itself can grow huge. It attracts a lot of bees too. I especially like the colour combined with roses of any colour.
Wimbewombe
Invasive means not native and a spreader I think- some times you should be alarmed but not here.
Laylelo
This plant grew in my garden. I loved it too. I let it grow. It started to climb over the steps. Beautiful! My husband suddenly found an appreciation for nurturing plants he’d never had before. I’d find him talking to it in the morning. Gradually it bloomed more and more. I thought we both enjoyed the flowers in the same way but sometimes when I came into the garden when he was alone there it felt like I was interrupting something. I started to feel paranoid. When he went outside I’d rush out too, and I’m sure I heard him talking and then abruptly stop. I’d hide in the kitchen and try to overhear what was happening but it always sounded like the breeze blowing falling rain against stone – a sort of distant chatter and whisper, but no distinct noise.
I laid awake at night, listening for the sounds, and sometimes I saw my husband get out of bed and leave for hours at a time.
I woke up one day and heard laughter from the garden, but when I went outside it stopped and my husband, who was crouching by the flowerbed, stood up abruptly and walked quickly back inside.
I was so confused and in a daze. My eyes would itch. I’d sneeze. I don’t have hay fever but it felt the same. My friends couldn’t understand why I’d ask them to take in the fragrance of the flowers – they couldn’t smell anything. Meanwhile my nose was full of a cloying floral smell and an unsettling metallic undertone that had a scent of iron to it.
One day I awoke to what sounded like shrill laughter – a discordant sound that traveled in the thin morning air. Bolting up from a deep sleep, I felt a robotic urge to stride into the garden where I saw my husband, again crouching. Whispering. Giggling. Talking about me. The purple blooms swayed, but there was no wind. I swear the flowers turned to meet my gaze at the same time as he stood up.
I grabbed a spade without thinking and made swift work of them both. I dug out the flowers and a grave at the same time.
They told me I was hearing things and that I needed to rest for a long time. But I swear if the window is open in this place I’m in now, I can hear laughter on the wind and a cloying smell of blood and flowers.
20 Comments
Hardy geraniums are commonly recommended plants, they flower for a long time and are very reliable.
There are no problems with them – some plants are just all around winners!
Most non-native geraniums are not invasive and easy to control if getting out of hand.
Google, RHS and BSBI doesn’t flag anything about Sylvaticum being considered invasive either.
they spread, thats it – so if you dont want them to cover the entire bed where they are planted you need to keep control
Great shelter for insects I find
I will not hear a word against hardy geraniums.
They make my garden
Geranium Rosanne – not remotely invasive. Definitely one of the best garden plants
Not invasive at all. On the contrary – if you give it a bit too much of a Chelsea chop earlier in the summer – you will likely damage its growth and flowering until the next year. That’s why I leave geraniums to do their thing. Just what I’ve noticed in my own garden.
hardy geranium, looks like Rozanne maybe. I love them.. They’re not a threat to displace native species as far as I know.
I’ve got one in a pot, the flowers have lasted since May so far with just watering and bit of tomato food.
No deadheading required at all.
Ideal!
Looks more like Geranium Rozanne, a cultivated variety. It’s just great, no problems.
Hack them back when they’ve flowered, and they go again. Also great for preventing beds being used as litter trays by neighbouring cats
Wood cranesbill isn’t super invasive either. Like all Geraniums easily pulled up and doesn’t spread via roots, so only have to be pulled up once a year. I have the blue wood one and the pink smaller one in my garden and they thrive in one area of my garden. No maintenance.
Your plant isn’t Geranium sylvaticum, but a very popular sterile (so it can’t seed around, so not invasive) hybrid called “Rozanne”.
That look like rozanne? I have planted that everywhere as it actually flowers all summer and autumn, it’s great.
They’re great, bomb-proof and the bugs love them. They just spill out a bit but respond really well to a trim so just cut him back if he starts overshadowing things
A lot of people on Reddit don’t seem to understand what Invasive actually means and also seem to take a US stance on everything so they call things invasive that are invasive there but may be native to here. It’s worth grabbing a British plant ID book to check what you’ve got.
looks so good with that rose too, what variety is it?
Looks like Geranium Rozanne, a wonderful plant for the garden. Flowers are sterile so it doesn’t spread, although the plant itself can grow huge. It attracts a lot of bees too. I especially like the colour combined with roses of any colour.
Invasive means not native and a spreader I think- some times you should be alarmed but not here.
This plant grew in my garden. I loved it too. I let it grow. It started to climb over the steps. Beautiful! My husband suddenly found an appreciation for nurturing plants he’d never had before. I’d find him talking to it in the morning. Gradually it bloomed more and more. I thought we both enjoyed the flowers in the same way but sometimes when I came into the garden when he was alone there it felt like I was interrupting something. I started to feel paranoid. When he went outside I’d rush out too, and I’m sure I heard him talking and then abruptly stop. I’d hide in the kitchen and try to overhear what was happening but it always sounded like the breeze blowing falling rain against stone – a sort of distant chatter and whisper, but no distinct noise.
I laid awake at night, listening for the sounds, and sometimes I saw my husband get out of bed and leave for hours at a time.
I woke up one day and heard laughter from the garden, but when I went outside it stopped and my husband, who was crouching by the flowerbed, stood up abruptly and walked quickly back inside.
I was so confused and in a daze. My eyes would itch. I’d sneeze. I don’t have hay fever but it felt the same. My friends couldn’t understand why I’d ask them to take in the fragrance of the flowers – they couldn’t smell anything. Meanwhile my nose was full of a cloying floral smell and an unsettling metallic undertone that had a scent of iron to it.
One day I awoke to what sounded like shrill laughter – a discordant sound that traveled in the thin morning air. Bolting up from a deep sleep, I felt a robotic urge to stride into the garden where I saw my husband, again crouching. Whispering. Giggling. Talking about me. The purple blooms swayed, but there was no wind. I swear the flowers turned to meet my gaze at the same time as he stood up.
I grabbed a spade without thinking and made swift work of them both. I dug out the flowers and a grave at the same time.
They told me I was hearing things and that I needed to rest for a long time. But I swear if the window is open in this place I’m in now, I can hear laughter on the wind and a cloying smell of blood and flowers.