Hey Wisconsin has its very own forum! Cool! Carried, could you describe the flowers on the first pic? It looks sooo familar. The second one looks like it could be a bleeding heart, maybe?

I went ouside after the rain and grabbed a pic of a flower from the second plant Could it be coral bell?
And could the first possibly be clematis?(don't really remember what the flowers looked like on that one, sorry but it was after July when we moved in and it still had flowers if that helps)

Carrie, the first photo looks like a hardy geranium.
When it blooms, please post some pictures of it.

The second (and third) is a columbine. It looks like a hybrid of some kind. I had a blue one like that a few years ago, had a name something like "Bluebird", but those hybrids don't last long in my gardens.

One fun thing about columbines, is that if you let seed pods develop, then scatter the dried seeds all over your gardens, you'll get new ones popping up that look different from the parent plant!

Julie

I think the 1st one a hardy geranium also. Some of them get reddish leaves in the Fall and really some color to the gardens then too. Some can really spread around also.
I just bought come columbine a few weeks ago. They are beautiful plants. I love the flower on yours Carrie.

Kat

Thanks!
I knew someone could help.
I'm going to have to gather up some of those seeds and put them in the front yard for next year where they'll actually be seen.

I'm not so sure on the ID of geranium, Katusha. Take a pic when it blooms and post again.

Dave
Franklin.

Well Dave, now I'm wondering. Carrie, please keep us updated when it flowers.

Kat

I was thinking the first one may be pink mallow.

Well, at least nobody has agreed with my husband yet ( he says it's a weed) I'm leaning towards the hardy geranium from the pics I've seen on the net and my not so good memory of the flower. I will take pics as soon as I get that first flower.

Don't think the first is geranium. I think it is a mallow, maybe an Alcea fastigata type. If you remember, were flowers on a spike? >>>mallow. Geraniums do not spike. Cannot be a clematis as clematis leaves are arranged opposite of each other on the stem.

Concur with columbine.

Mallow sounds more like it for the first....can get weedy...watch it.:)

Dave
Franklin.

Carrie....
I am still puzzled about the first pic. Here is a photo of my Geranium maculatum:

and here is a photo of Malva alcea Fastigiata
found at www.plantstogrow.com
Photographer: Paul Drobot:

Do you remember how tall the plant was when it was blooming? The malva can get 3-4 feet tall, but the geranium will be 1-2 feet tall, depending on the cultivar.

Julie

I just went out to check and it's already 3 feet tall, no flowers yet but I think there will be soon.

Julie, I just went to the plant site you listed and it's great! Thanks for posting that.

Kat

Well, no flowers yet, it's already 4 feet tall, now I'm wondering if I should think about staking it

Carrie....
It's most likely a Malva then, at 4' tall!
Mine are only a foot tall so far. You must have yours in a protected area to be that tall already. Mine have grown to 4' in the past, and I've had to stake them because of the added weight of the abundant blooms. I do so like the fact that they flower for a long period of time, but I have to pick out a lot of unwanted seedlings each Spring, or they'll take over my garden!

I'll be watching for your photos of the blooms....

Julie

Looks like Malva, I have the same plant growing.
There's a simple way to tell which plants you should stake and which ones not to. Don't stake any of them, and if one falls over, then that's the one you should have staked.

Rich

Rich,

Well aren't you the silly one! Staking something AFTER it falls over, esp. after a rain is a real pain, huh? Carrie, I'd stake it now, before the blooms get too heavy.

Have fun!

Julie

I got my first flower!

Oh, definately Malva!

Putzer, leftwood, mildave, and daddylonglegs were right all along. This was fun watching the plant progress! You should have plenty more if you let it reseed - so many, that you'll be able to give some away to neighbors, friends, family, etc.

Nice smile on the boy, too.

Thanks for sharing, Carrie.

Julie

That's exactly what mine just did, same flower. Thanks for posting the photo. I have another Malva that I got in a plant swap, I think from "grainy ledge" or tsugajunkie. But I think it's purple and the leaves are completely different, do different colors have different leaves are we using "malva" too generically?
By the way, did you identify that other one you posted? The Columbine looking one?

Rich

I'm pretty sure the first one is Columbine.
I've been doing research on the malva there seems to be quite a few different varieties with different leaves. I'm thinking I have the Hollyhock Mallow. I found this website interesting:

Here is a link that might be useful: The malva pages

Carrie....

Thanks for sharing the link to the Malva pages.
I especially like the difference in the Malva sylvestris seedlings.
I also have Malva species coming up all over my garden as weeds. (They'll take over if I don't pull them)!

Here is my Malva Zebrina:

Julie

Julie
that flower is so pretty!

I loved all the pictures of the malva. I have tried on several different occasions to grow Zebrina, I have tried it from seeds taken from a friend's plant, I have transplanted and I have this year purchased a nursery plant. None of them ever did well, never reseeded, and the one this year is only 2 feet tall and is already starting to wither (with seed pods) at the top. Do they need a lot of sun. Mine are on the south east side of the house and fairly shady, maybe 3 hours of sun. My hollyhocks do great there.

Drcntyaah,

Yes, Malvas need full sun. Usually that means at least 6 hours of uninterrupted sun. Try moving them to a sunnier spot if you can. (But not this week-end - We're in for a heatwave!)

Julie