Zebrina Malva, M. sylvestris
Since hollyhocks are biennial and seldom bloom the first year in our cool, short season,...and usually don't winter over...the perennial malva is a nice substitute. Here in Southcentral Alaska, I have grown these tall malva for two seasons, but they did not winter over the first winter. I'm hoping for the best this year, but if not, they bloomed the first year and could be grown as an annual in marginal zones.
I'm trying these for the first time this year. I'm hoping that they will winter over. I've got them planted now under growlights.
It's an annual for me in zone 5. It re-seeds well though so I always have some around.
It's a perennial for me and blooms till a hard freeze here which was Thanksgiving this year!! I have LOTS of seeds for this if you need some more, also have pink, solid lavender and white. They all bloom the first year. LMK if you want seeds.
Hi! I am new to DG and am enjoying myself looking and reading and drooling!! I grew this plant about 3 years ago and we are still trying to get rid of the reseeded plants. The roots go way down and I have my teen son or husband get the "monsters". They have come up everywhere, even in the yard. Pretty yes, but be ready for lots of babies if you are not diligent. I am in a zone 5 area but am so protected with a southern exposure I consider my gardens a zone 6. I just love this site!! Thanks for all the friendly info. Today we are going up into the 70's and by morning the 20's
"sigh"
Joyous: Welcome to Dave's Garden. I'm a newby myself, having subscribed in February. I agree, Dave's Garden is a great place! Each time I open my home page, I feel like I'm taking a walk through a communal garden of flowers and friends...and all this at a moment's notice any time of the day! With the vast time changes, I can sit down before my evening bath and visit with insomniacs that are posting at 2am! I've sat at my computer at 9pm Alaska time and visited with a garden friend in England who was sitting at her computer at 7am..one of us ending our day, one of us starting it!
Too funny about the Zebrina problem..it just goes to show that one man's noxious weed is another man's prized plant. I believe the definition of a weed is a plant that grows where you don't want it to!
JoanJ: Yes, I have them planted and under lights as well!..small world. I also planted mauritiana, white perfection, and a pink variety sent my a friend from Washington state. The mauritiana is also a sylvestra,tall like the Zebrina, but has violet purple blooms...but you probably already know that. The white and pink ones are mochata's. The mochatas are perennials here for sure.
Calalily: Thanks for the offer! I'd be grateful for some seeds, if you'd like to share. I don't have any of the lavender ones..are they the mochatas..the short ones with the lacy leaf? I'd be glad to send you something from my seed tote...got lots of stuff. I've got some great bellflower seed, maltese cross, oriental poppy, English daisy, Iceland poppy, tall foxglove, cup & saucer, sweet william, alpine dianthus, annual poppies (several types and colors), violas, petunias, oriental veggies, and lots more I can't remember. Let me know what you're looking for.
Last year I tried some malope from T&M called Glacier Fruits.. has anyone else grown malope?
Yes it is a lovely plant, love all of them mallows, growing also the annual mallows Lavatera, plus the bush Lavatera.Will give me loads of pinks in my garden.
I've always grown the Beauty Mix lavatera, but this year I'm starting some Mont Blanc and Silver Cup. I think they'll be a bit shorter. What is the lavatera bush?
ahh yes this is one beauty of a plant! I planted seeds last year and all I got was the green foilage. I was a bit disappointed when they didn't bloom, but I just more or less chalked them off as a dud. But I noticed that they stayed green all winter and so I am really hoping to see some blooms this year! keeping my finger's crossed again!!
Mollybee, they are perennial here for us and you should have blooms all summer. Sometimes I cut mine back when they get out of hand.
Weez, the lavender are the tall ones. I think I might have a few seeds of another tall one with a dark center, I will see if I still have a few left of those. Email me your addy and I will get these out.
Thanks, Calalily: Be thinking of something you want in return.
I'm sooo bummed,I thought they were perenials,ya mean its not coming back???
I find a general rule with the perennial-biennial thing is... if the plant blooms it's head off... there's a good chance it won't come back the following year. If it doesn't bloom or has very sparse blooms... than it comes back the following year & blooms it's head off. It seems to be the way with foxgloves, hollyhocks, sweet rocket and many of the iffy perennials or biennials. It's like they bloom themselves out and then die. Keeping seeds from developing will help to give a plant enough energy to come back but it doesn't always seem to work. I like to let them re-seed to ensure I'll always have some. There's always seedlings from the zebrina around to be lifted and moved to other areas. I don't think I've planted any in 5 or 6 years.
they bloomed their heads off,so their not comin back.And I mulched HEAVY to keep the weeds down so it will probably smother any that try to germinate.
Hi, Guys: I lost track of which malva we're talking about. Is one of them a biennial?... or are you talking about the hollyhocks? I thought the lavateras are annuals and the mochatas and sylvestras were perennials. Am I wrong? It's possible the sylvestras will be a perennial grown as an annual here, but they're still a perennial.
I get really confused about biennials. What Poppysue said about their blooming habits makes sense. Plants grow to reproduce, so it stands to reason they'd bloom like crazy if they only have one shot at it. It also stands to reason that the seeds would be viable and germinate easily.
Up here, we start most everything indoors quite early, so some biennials bloom the first year for us. I've been told that a biennial dies once it blooms, but I don't think that's necessarily the case. I have a few perennials that bloom the first year, but many more that don't.
There's also the question of short-lived perennials. I planted English daisies (bellis) two years ago, and they came out of the snow blooming. I started more that spring, then found that the existing plants had thrown seed and were putting out seedlings all over the bed and yard. I know they are perennial, but are they a short-lived perennial...making babies while the sun shines?
My question girls, is how tall do they get, and how wide? I have the Malva, Zabrina, and Windsor Castle seeds to plant, and I sure don't want to put them in the wrong spot. Also, are they heat and drought tolerate?
"eyes"
eyes: The sylvestras are listed for 3-6 ft...now that's quite a range for you! Mine get about 4ft tall in the first (my only) year. The mauritiana is listed as 6 ft tall to be spaced 36 inches. T&M listed the Zebrinas for 3 ft.tall and 18" apart.
The mochatas I have are shorter. The catalogs list them from 24-36" tall. I don't see anything about spacing, but I think they'll spread out a bit, so 12-18" might be fine. If they fill in too much, they can be easily dug and replanted elsewhere. The mochatas are pretty rugged little devils!
Yes Weezingreens i grow the silver cup and mont blanc lavatera, they are really nice,but about 15 years ago they bacame very common in English gardens so gave them up until the fashion went so for the past 2 years have started them again.
Good to know, Sheila. We've often been accused of having "cottage gardens" here...maybe our climate allows for some of the flowers that are considered to be used in that setting. If so, I wouldn't be offended, since I've always loved the old pictures of English country gardens. I had no idea the two varieties I mentioned were old hat, but that doesn't surprise me...we're live a pretty passe life here in Seward. Looks like we waited long enough to be in fashion again!
I think they are gorgeous!! I have'nt started growing any yet in our newish garden - 1 year old in June and no I'm not hinting for seeds!!! I also used to grow Lavatera Barnsley and I believe there are other colours available now. They make for quick and gorgeous huge displays about 8 x 8!! I'm dreaming again - things that used to be :-)
We had Barnsley too, bloomed away and died after 4 years. Nice flowers but too sprawly for the spot it was in. Musk Mallow appeared out of the blue one year and promptly died after flowering, the clay lies too wet over winter. I will dig it up if it deigns to appear again.
WZ how can you be accused of having a cottage garden LOL, is there something wrong with that style? Thanks for the seeds, I've not grown sylvestris before :)
No, Baa..I've always loved the cottage garden look, but we were visited by someone from the National Rock Garden Society a couple years ago, and her assessment was that we grow cottage gardens rather than alpine gardening. She had come from Colorado to Anchorage to Seward and gone on a tour boat to see the bay, so I don't know on what she based her opinion.
I rather irked me because she hadn't really looked around the area. If I were interested in alpine plants and had the opportunity to visit a coastal Alaskan town surrounded by snow capped mountains, I think I'd be hiking, rather than taking a tour boat out to see the sea lions.
Her style of rock gardens is to heap dirt in a pile, situate rocks on it, add plants, then mulch with gravel. Up here, where soil is $180 a load, we would start with gravel, situate some rocks, then add pockets of soil behind the rocks. Since holding the moisture isn't an issue here, we probably wouldn't mulch with gravel...we see enough of that around here. When the speaker mentioned visiting our local quarry for rocks, one of the ladies said, "Oh, heck, I just send my husband down to the river with the loader!"
Our gardens are a mix of whatever we have. I rock garden to stop soil erosion on hillsides (or rather, gravel erosion), I tuck plants where the wind can't hurt them and the rain won't melt them, I put things in pots and move them around as I see fit!
I really love hollyhocks, but they just don't do well here, since they don't winter over. The other malvas are just a better deal, and you can't beat lavatera for an annual show!
Weez - I wonder why your hollyhocks won't winter over? How cold does it get there? I'm in zone 3, a few miles down the road it's zone 4 though, (lucky dogs). Everyone around here has hollyhocks that come back every year. I thought they were pretty tough. I don't think we get as much snow cover as you do though, so could that be it?
Actually, JoanJ, you'd think the snow would be a boon to the hollyhocks wintering over, since snow is nature's best mulch. It may have something to do with the high moisture content in our soil, or it may might be that they don't develop enough root system in our short season.
They may do just fine somewhere else, but not in my garden or my neighbor's garden. There are many ecosystems in Alaska, and several even here on the Kenai Peninsula. I've planted Summer Carnival, a variety that is supposed to bloom the first year when started early indoors, but they just came to bud before first hard frost.
My last frost is supposed to be May 15, but usually closer to June 1. I plant out around May 15, but use hot caps, rusty coffee cans, milk cartons and such to protect them, and I can easily throw blankets over them. My first frost comes sometimes mid Sept, but usually the first part of October. If I'm on the ball, I can get everything covered and save it, as lots of times we get an early frost, then an indian summer for a few more weeks before the next frost. What's your growing season?
You know, that's about the same for me, except our last danger of frost is usually closer to June, but that's not written in stone. I think that we differ in the days of sunlight and the temps...but soil and air temp. It stays pretty cool out here and the days are pretty long.
Yeah, it might be the temps alright. We do get into the 90's and 100's here usually around the first of July. Soil probably warms up quicker too. I just was looking for a reason to make your hollyhocks grow! LOL!
I wish we could find a reason to make my hollyhocks grow. When I was a kid back in Indiana, I would pick a blossom, turn it over, and pretend it was a lady in a ball gown. I have fond memories of them.
LOL WZ I don't like the pile of soil rock gardens, your method sounds much more natural. RHS Wisley Gardens has some lovely alpine planting. In the 70's here it was very fashionable to dig a pond and pile up the dug out soil behind it and 'create' a rock garden, now its scree beds.
Weez, I'm going to send you some hollyhock seed to try. They are the real old "outhouse" hollyhocks and You might have a chance with them. They were planted at the farm my grandparents owned and my brother now owns and I think if they germinate, you should have some luck with them. They put a root down like a tree and I have some plants that are 7 or 8 years old. Send me your address and I'll get them out.
I HATE thoise "rock gardens" - if you want a rock garde, get some REAL rocks and do it right, I say.
P.S. these hollyhocks grow to 15 feet, just so you know!
This message was edited Sunday, Mar 17th 6:32 AM
I have a totally unrelated Malva question.. I have Varigated tree Mallow seeds that we generously given to me. I can't get any of them to germinate. Can anyone help? I love the whole family of mallows and would like some of them all. I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I tried stratifaction and the paper towel method.
Just a guess, Gwydion, but perhaps the seeds aren't viable because it is a hybrid variety. Has the giver of the seeds ever germinated seeds from it? Does the mother plant self-sow? The other options are immature seeds, improper storage, or just old age. Are they fresh seed? I don't know what the life expectancy is for mallow seed. I'm also not familiar with mallow trees, so I'm hoping someone else will post a reply. If we don't get an answer, maybe you should start your own thread in the propagation forum...might pick up more hits since this thread hasn't had any action for awhile.
You're right i will repost in progagation. Thanks!
