Carried by 24 nurseries
View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora
Malva rosa (Lavatera assurgentiflora) is a mallow with showy flowers that look like small hibiscus flowers. They bloom much of the year. Each flower has five dark-veined deep pink petals. It is a perennial or shrub in the mallow family, native primarily to the Channel Islands.
Malva rosa attracts many species of butterfly.
This plant can handle summer irrigation, up to every other week, as long as the soil is well drained. You should prune branches back annually to maintain a compact form.
Shrub
3 - 13 ft Tall
5 - 10 ft Wide
Mounding, Rounded
Fast
Evergreen
Pleasant
Red, Purple, Pink
Summer, Spring, Winter
Hedge
Full Sun
Very Low
Max 2x / month once established
Easy
Tolerates cold to 20 - 30° F
Fast, Medium, Slow
Adaptable.
Tolerates serpentine soil..
Soil PH: 5 - 8
For propagating by seed: No treatment. Germination often poor. Propagation from cuttings taken in spring or summer may also work; both methods are slow.
Coastal bluffs
Coastal Sage Scrub
Giant Coreopsis (Leptosyne gigantea), Island Bristleweed, Greene's Liveforever (Dudleya greenei), Santa Cruz Island Liveforever, Santa Cruz Island Dandelion, Island Broom (Acmispon dendroideus)
Butterflies and moths supported
0 confirmed and 14 likely
Ipsilon Dart
Agrotis ipsilon
Painted Tiger Moth
Arachnis picta
Alfalfa Looper Moth
Autographa californica
Tobacco Budworm Moth
Chloridea virescens