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Erodium reichardii |
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| | Small scalloped leaves |
| Synonym(s) |
Erodium chamaedryoides |
| Common name |
alpine geranium; heronsbill |
| Family |
geraniaceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial (Z5-7) |
| Flowers |
pink |
| Size |
2" |
| Light |
sun-part shade |
| Cultural notes |
prefers moist soil |
This plant came to us as an unlabeled gift, so its exact identity is unsure. It certainly is an Erodium species, and from browsing around on the web I've narrowed down the choices to E. reichardii or E. x variabile (a hybrid of reichardii and E. corsicum). Also unclear is the hardiness range - although I've found one source willing to proclaim it hardy to zone 5, others aren't as generous, and say zone 8, or "can tolerate temperatures down to 10F". I hope this one will survive - I'll keep it planted in its hypertufa home, to ensure decent drainage.
It didn't survive the winter in its container, so I purchased a new plant to take its place. This one came with a tag, so I can claim that it is an E. reichardii 'Roseum'. The tag says zone 8-9, so I guess we may have to treat it as an annual.
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This plant used to grow in our garden, but it slipped away... Read about all the cranesbills and heronsbills in our garden on my geraniums page About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Erodium reichardii
Some particularly helpful links to other websites
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| rodielsa | Jun 30, 2010 | Thank you for all your insight and information! I live in East Tennessee USDA zone 6a-6b and we have had E. reichardii for several years now. The original plant we had in a container for a couple of years before transplanting into the flower bed. The bed is partly shaded and the plant thrived there for about 3 years...we believe wet feet may have been it's demise...not sure. We have in subsequent years purchased more E. reichardii and have had some success with it's return...they are just lovely and are prolific bloomers all summer long!
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| Janet Tunis | Apr 15, 2011 | I am looking to buy erodium plants. Specifically reichardii roseum, bishops form, flore pleno, alba and charm. Do you sell them retail or know anywhere I can buy them?
Thanks
Janet
I don't have these plants for sale, sorry. |
| KarenL. | Feb 07, 2012 | I planted this as a groundcover in May, 2011 and has doubled in size to about 4 inches diameter each planting as of now. It had flowers until about November and now in February some of the leaves have actually turned red. I live in the high desert, Sunset zone 10. |
| Memoimyself | Mar 01, 2018 | I've had several mounds of E. reichardii (plants very much like the one in your photos) for many years and they've taken temperatures down to about -10°C without a single one ever dying. Mine are in full sun, growing in about 90% crushed limestone and 10% native soil (ie, an extremely porous substrate), and I water them sparingly through the dry months (late May to early September). They bloom non-stop from spring to late autumn, at least; sometimes year-round if the winter is particularly mild.
For those under the impression that it prefers moist soils, consider that it's native to the Balearic Islands and Corsica, which are pretty dry. Perhaps growing E. reichardii in a very lean, porous substrate on the dry side will increase its resistance to cold. |
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