Lovely Lavender Lavatera

I went out to my backyard this morning to see if the rain and heavy winds we had did any damage to my plants.  Everything look ok, soggy but maybe the sun will shine and dry things out some.

A pleasant surprise greeted me, my tree mallow (Lavatera spp.) is starting to bloom.  I planted it last year from a cutting that I got at our plant exchange about two years ago.  I took about 3 cuttings home and put them in some potting soil and waited to see if they would take. The larger one did, the smaller ones did not.  Once it starting growing as was about 12 inches tall I transplanted it to the garden. I put the tree mallow in a spot where it would have room to grow, as I had seen one that looked like it would take over, and I didn’t want that to happen. But it looks like it has a mind of its own, and is taking over that spot and one nearby it.

This is the first time it has bloomed, but it has stayed green all year, which is nice when most things look doormat. Even with this Lavatera blossom in the picture showing white with light pink it is actually a very light pink, with a darker pink around the center and the stamen is light yellow.

Some tree mallows are suppose to be rose shaped mine grows face down and to me it looks more like the old fashion hollyhocks that our parents might have grown.  All I know is that this plant seems to grow inches over night and soon will take over in height and width, so after it blooms I plan on pruning it down to an average height.

Lavatera in my backyard. (photo by Betty Victor)

Read more