In the Garden
This magick herb blooms from
mid-summer to frost and in China is a traditional
flower for house decoration in September. Its
silvery, shiny flowers look good with fuzzy
wormwood or
lamb's ear. It is
related to High
Mallow but is as easy to germinate as another
of its relatives, Black
Hollyhock. This bushy, deer-resistant plant
likes to grow in sandy soil. It is good for
xeriscaping, making a temporary hedge (great
around a circle), and can grow by the ocean. Like
most cottage garden plants, it prefers cool
weather and will languish in humid heat but will
perk up again when it cools. Bees love it, and it
makes good cut flowers that last a long time. This
plant is also known as royal mallow, regal mallow,
annual mallow, and fairy cheese, this last because
its fruits are shaped like a round cheese.
Deadheading (pinching off dead flowers) will make
more blooms, but let some set fruit; each fairy
cheese contains 12 seeds that can be saved when
fully ripe and planted the next year (in a
different place to avoid plant disease)
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Lavatera trimestris
Love Magic © 2004, 2018 Harold A. Roth; No reproduction without permission |