Mallow

Mallow (Malva) - Stout and sometimes showy perennial and half-shrubby plants, of which there are few pretty garden plants, the majority being coarse and weedy. One of the best is the white variety of the native Musk Mallow (M. moschata). It is a branching bush, with stems about 2 feet high, and many flowers 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. M. campanulata is a beautiful dwarf plant, but rare and not hardy except in very mild districts. It is dwarf and spreading, and bears numerous lilac bell-shaped flowers. M. Alcea, Moreni and mauritanica are worth growing in a full collection, and so is the annual M. crispa, 3 to 6 feet high—an erect pyramidal bush of broad leaves, with a crimped margin, pretty in groups or borders.