Marvellous Mallow

The Malvaceae (mallow) family has always held a soft spot in my heart, as it conjures up misty visions of old-fashioned cottage gardens ablaze with powdery pink blooms, like those I visited when I was very young. This diverse family of plants includes several summer-blooming beauties perfect for British Columbia gardens.

From her delightful garden at Barnsley in Gloucestershire, England, the late Rosemary Verey introduced Lavatera 'Barnsley' to the gardening world just over a decade and a half ago. It caused quite a stir, as the latest, boldest member of the Malvaceae family. This wide-ranging family consists mostly of herbs and small shrubs, including plants as diverse as the hollyhock (Alcea), the tropical hibiscus (Hibiscus) and the cotton plant (Gossypium). In British Columbia, we are fortunate to be able to welcome several species from the mallow clan into our gardens, including my personal favourites - marsh mallow, checkerbloom, hollyhock and, of course, Verey's wonderful 'Barnsley.'

Lavatera 'Barnsley' is a sport of Lavatera thuringiaca (tree lavatera), which is native to central and southeastern Europe. 'Barnsley' is a particularly showy, somewhat tender subshrub that tends to be almost evergreen in the mild winters we've experienced on the coast over the past few years, with the exception, of course, of this March's Arctic chill. Unfortunately for gardeners elsewhere in the province, 'Barnsley' is only hardy in zones 7 to 9.

'Barnsley' reaches a height of two metres or more, and has light, airy branches that float on the summer breezes, covered with a myriad of pale-pink flowers with red centres. It is so pale that its colouring is sometimes simply referred to as white. Its foliage is a pleasing grey-green shade that complements the flowers well, and its leaves are palmate with three to five lobes.

At the UBC Botanical Garden, 'Barnsley' is used in our perennial border as a bold focal point giving height to the pink and purple section of the border. It should be noted that this lavatera definitely needs full sun. A hungry plant, it requires a mulching of well-rotted manure each spring to a depth of 10 centimetres over the entire root area.

I grow it in a pot at home on my roof garden. Because my deck faces north, I don't trust the winters to preserve my lavatera, so I always prune it right back to about 15 centimetres in late October or early November and put it in my folding cold frame. It is in a large pot 45 centimetres in diameter and about the same depth. It is such a vigorous grower during the height of summer that twice-daily waterings are sometimes required. And it definitely needs a daily feeding of a few drops of either fish fertilizer or 20-20-20 added to the water. One last word about L. 'Barnsley': because it is a sport, it has a tendency to revert to its original purple/pink-flowered form.

There are of course quite a few annual members of this family, the best-known likely being Lavatera trimestris. Popular with prairie gardeners, this is an excellent choice for Interior B.C. gardens where the summer days get much hotter than on the coast. L. trimestris comes in a colour range of white through pink, and given summer warmth, it can reach a height of 60 centimetres or so. The 'Mont Rose' cultivar shown on the cover is one of my top picks.