Geranium lucidum | shining cranesbill

Wild geranium for mossy walls and soils in damper climates

When we first moved to our garden in West Yorkshire back in 2021 I spotted the familiar pink flower of what I initially thought was Herb Robert, then quickly realised its leaves were completely different. Glossy with a reflective sheen and rounded, the segments cut just beyond halfway. Those shiny leaves are where Shining Cranesbill, Geranium lucidum, gets its name and is the distinguishing feature between it and round-leaved cranesbill.

• Max size: 40cm high, 40cm wide

• Origin: Europe to India, northern Africa, Madeira

• Life: annual or biennial

Geranium lucidum is not edible like some other wild geraniums. Though like the others, it is used by all manner of insects from moths and butterflies, to hoverflies and beetles.

Around our house Geranium lucidum grows out of the loam-clay soil directly as well as from cracks in the mossy drystone walls. It seems perfectly happy in either conditions growing to the same size wherever its seeds end up.

I’m really fond of this plant for pops of pink in s…