PlantFiles: Rose Mallow, Annual Mallow
Lavatera trimestris

I love the lavatera! I grew it for the first time last year and loved it so much that I took the seeds off of it and started 100 of them in the house in March. I planted 60 plants in a row across my back hedge and they are beautiful. Yesterday I noticed a couple pure white blooms growing right from the same plant that is loaded with pink blooms. What a beautiful surprise. I shared the rest of my seedlings with friends.
Beautiful showy flower that requires no work....Other than staking them to keep them from falling over from heavy blooms. I think I'll start 200 next year.

Beautiful plants easily grown from seed sown directly outdoors.

This was my first year growing Lavatera from seed. I dead-headed daily for the first few weeks when they began to bloom, then became overwhelmed and gave up, however they continued to bloom heavily until frost here while producing a fair amount of seed.

If planted closer together than the suggested spacing, they can grow into an appealing bush-like form.

Lavatera trimestris is Naturalized in Texas and other States.

I grow these each year from seeds, both white and pink varieties. This year I tried the new series called Twins. They bloom more vigorously than types I've grown in the past, but still only look good for a couple of weeks. I've tried deadheading and still few blooms after the initial show. Now I just start new seed at 2 week intervals and plant and pull out the old ones after they bloom. Works here (San Diego) very well but is time consuming. For the show of flowers, they can't be beat, but not worth the effort if you don't have the time to plant every 2 weeks.

Three of these plants with beautiful flowers came up in one of our planter boxes. It took a while to ID them, but I was finally able to get some expert advice from members.

Color ranges from white (silver cup) to light pink, deep rose, and shades of lavender. It is a reliable and attractive climber, thrives in marginal soil, and benefits from frequent deadheading. It looks especially nice against a fence, rock wall, or trellis.

Lavatera is easy to grow from seed, and it's one of the showiest annuals.

This has been a joy and so easy to grow. I think they are beautiful and the color vibrant. Started to bloom here (zone 5b) about mid July.

Grows in Heat Zones 12-1.

This species of Lavatera is an annual, it grows to about 2' high with a spread of 18". Sort of shrubby. The flowers come in white or shades of pink are 3" trumpet shaped. Blooms in summer to early autumn. Best cultivated in in sun. Reblooms with deadheading. Propagate from seed.