Description

• Malvaceae
• Europe
• H 1.5m x L 0.3m
• Z5 à Z9
• Annual, Biennial or Short-lived perennial depending on conditions
• Synonyms : High Mallow, Tall Mallow, French Hollyhock, Common Mallow, Tree Mallow
• Subspecies : Mauritiana (Malva sylvestris ssp. Mauritiana)
• 1 packet of 20 seeds, Harvest of the year

Details

Malva sylvestris offers an abundant summer flowering, staggered, with very large and beautiful purple flowers united in clusters at the base of the leaves all along the flower stalk.
The flowers are very attractive to foraging insects and to bees - a very meliferous plant.
It is also a beautiful ornamental plant, cousin of Lavateras, Hollyhock, and Marshmallow.
Grow it in a high bed.

The subspecies proposed here, Malva sylvestris ssp. Mauritiana, offers a spectacular flowering (flowers are larger, more abundant, and with more intense color).

French Hollyhock is more often cultivated for its medicinal properties :

• Astringent
• Demulcent
• Diuretic
• Emollient
• Expectorant
• Laxative

It has other uses as well (food : use of cooked leaves like spinach, raw in salads, or to thicken soups, use of edible flowers for decorating dishes ; dye source).

Cultivation

Easy to grow, a must for ornamental and medicinal gardens.

Sow in spring, directly in place or in sheltered pots for planting in the ground in May.
Sunny place, well-worked soil and possibly fertilized with compost manure for a more abundant and spectacular flowering.
The plant can grow large in fertile soil, therefore plan your bed accordingly.
Protect from strong winds.

Harvest

Pick the flowers as they bloom and dry immediately in the shade for later use.