Wild mallow, Malva sylvestris

With beautiful bowl blossoms, the wild mallow trumps in the cottage garden, along the edges of trees or in the rock garden. Popular and sought after as an ornamental, medicinal, useful and food plant since ancient times, Malva sylvestris has lost none of its topicality and attractiveness. The following profile presents the outstanding advantages of the floral universal talent in a compact and clear manner. In order to benefit from these beneficial attributes, these instructions explain all the important details relating to professional care.

Characteristics

• Mallow family of plants (Malvaceae)
• Plant species within the genus: Wild Mallow (Malva sylvestris)
• Rarely annual, mostly biennial or herbaceous perennial
• Growth height 50 to 100 cm
• Blue, red or purple flowers with stripes on the inside
• Flowering time from May to September in axillary clusters
• Use of the leaves and flowers as medicinal herbs for stomach, intestinal and cold complaints
• Use of the flowers as a biological, yellow dye for food and textiles
• Utilization of the leaves as food in salads and hot dishes
• Other possible uses: vase jewelry, forage plants, green manure, energy plants
• Common names: Käsepappel, Ross mallow, Pissblume, Johannispappel

The wild mallow owes its common trivial name cheese poplar to the fruits, which are reminiscent of a cheese wheel in their shape. Our grandmothers and great-grandmothers processed these fruits into a rich children's porridge, called paperboard.

Care instructions

In the following you will find detailed instructions for growing and caring for the mallow species.

Location

The wild character of a Malva sylvestris is expressed in a pleasingly flexible attitude towards the local conditions. As long as a wild mallow can catch the sun's rays for at least 4-6 hours a day, it is satisfied with normal garden soil. The following overview presents all essential requirements:

• Sunny location up to light penumbra
• Gladly warm and sheltered from the wind
• Nutrient-rich, humus-rich, well-drained soil without the risk of waterlogging
• Fresh to sandy-dry with a neutral pH value

While other flower beauties favor a location protected from rain, the wild mallow is an exception in this regard. In fact, rain is very desirable at the latest after the fruit has ripened, because the cheese-wheel-like fruits only open, divide and spread under the pressure of falling water droplets.

to water

In the first 8-12 weeks after planting, the water requirement of a cheese poplar is at a high level, as it is in this phase that the roots take off. In the further course of the growing season, the summer flower can withstand short-term drought, but should not dry out completely. You should therefore water a wild mallow regularly when the soil in the upper 2 cm has dried up. Avoid overhead irrigation so that the flowers are not damaged. In the morning or evening, pour the water directly onto the root disc using the jug nozzle.

Fertilize

Since a cheese herb pushes a deep taproot into the ground over time, it largely supplies itself with nutrients at a suitable location. The additional application of fertilizer is therefore not absolutely necessary. So that your floral all-rounder does not run out of breath prematurely, a portion of compost replenishes the energy reserves it has used up. So fertilize a Malva sylvestris every 4 weeks from May to August with an organic fertilizer such as sifted compost, horn shavings, guano granulate, nettle liquid or manure.
Cultivated in pots or balcony boxes, the tightly limited substrate volume requires regular application of fertilizer. If you spoil your flower artist every 2 weeks from May to August with an organic liquid fertilizer for flowering plants, you can nibble on the flowers and leaves without hesitation.
Tip: If pond water is used to water a wild mallow, this covers both the water and nutrient requirements. The additional application of fertilizer is unnecessary in this

Case.

Cut

When a horse mallow has finished its summer blossom festival, cut the plant back to just above the ground. Since the flower does not always thrive for several years, do not make the cut until the fruit has opened and the seeds have spread. If the mother plant does not come back in the next year, its seedlings take over the scepter in the garden.

Overwinter

If a wild mallow has retreated into its root ball after the first frost, it can easily tolerate temperatures down to - 23 degrees Celsius in the bed. In rough locations, in the bucket and when it is a cultivar of the wild species, we recommend the following precautions for healthy wintering:

• In the bed after pruning, cover with leaves and needles
• Cover the bucket with bubble wrap and place it on a block of wood in front of the south wall of the house
• Cover the substrate with autumn leaves, straw or sawdust

You should preferably move pots with a diameter of less than 30 cm to frost-free winter quarters. To prevent the root ball from drying out, water it from time to time. As soon as the temperatures permanently exceed the frost limit in early spring, the plant moves to its traditional place on the balcony or terrace.

Repot

When spring is just around the corner, the best time to repot Malva sylvestris has come. This maintenance measure often gives the final impetus to decorate the balcony in the tub or flower box for another season. In any case, the strong root ball has completely rooted its planter after a year and requires more space. As a substrate, we recommend a structurally stable potted plant soil based on compost, which is more permeable with a handful of sand, expanded clay or lava granules. How to do it correctly:

• Spread out some potsherds in the new planter over the opening in the floor as drainage
• Spread an air and water-permeable fleece over it so that the material does not become muddy with crumbs of earth
• Pour in a first layer of substrate to create a hollow in the middle with your fist
• Now pot the wild mallow and plant it so deep in the fresh substrate that the previous planting depth is preserved

After you have poured on the cheese poplar, it can recover from the stress of moving for 8 days in the partially shaded location. Only then does it take its place again in the sun under the open sky. Since the pre-fertilized substrate provides sufficient nutrients for the next 4-6 weeks, fertilization is only carried out after this period of time.
Tip: If a strong, vital root ball emerges when repotting, use this opportunity for propagation by means of division. To do this, cut the wild mallow into 2 or more segments, each of which should have at least 2 eyes. Potted in fresh substrate, the pieces transform into adult flowers with exactly the characteristics of their mother plant within a few weeks.

Multiply

First of all, the multifaceted advantages of a wild one

Mallow didn't want to do without the floral all-rounder. In order to grow more specimens, sowing behind glass is primarily recommended. Alternatively, you can collect the fruits in autumn to keep them in the dry, airtight container until February. Since in this case it is not certain that the seedlings are similar to their mother plant, specialist retailers offer certified seeds from which the desired variety can be reliably obtained. This is how the sowing proceeds properly:

• Fill small pots or a seed tray with commercially available seed soil or peat sand
• Press the kidney-shaped, brown seeds into the substrate at a distance of 3-4 cm
• Sieve thinly with sand or vermiculite and moisten with a fine effervescence

In order to put the somewhat sedate seeds in a germinative mood, a change between warm and cool temperatures works in the following weeks. First place the seed pot in the heated indoor greenhouse at 30 degrees Celsius for 3 weeks. The seeds then spend 3 weeks at 4-5 degrees Celsius, for example in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. After the cold stimulus, the seedlings take a partially shaded place on the warm windowsill at 20-21 degrees Celsius. During this time, the seeds must not dry out at any time, as they will not recover from drought stress. The seedlings are pricked out when at least 2 pairs of leaves have developed. By the middle / end of May, vital young plants have developed from the seeds, which are planted in the field or in the tub.
Tip: If you invest a little more money in the purchase of seeds than gold grain seeds, you can save yourself the hassle of changing temperatures during sowing. As gold grain seeds, Malva sylvestris are much more susceptible to germination, without any cold stimulus.

Nice varieties

Some remarkable varieties have emerged from the wild mallow, which combine the robust wild character with picturesque abundance of flowers. The following selection gives a brief overview of the offer:

• Zebrina: White flowers with violet eyes, 100 cm height and mostly perennial
• Primley Blue: Bright blue flowers from June to September with a height of 40-50 cm
• Demar Marina: purple flowers, painterly striped; reaches a height of 120-150 cm
• Twins Hot Pink: Gold medal winner 2005, thanks to pink flowers and high disease resistance
• Purple Satin: Premium variety with purple flowers, a slight shimmer and a height of up to 100 cm

In addition, the specialist trade has great mixes ready, such as Mystic Merlin. This impresses with shades of wonderful blue, bright purple and intense violet.
Conclusion
With the wild mallow, mother nature has given us a floral jewel that should not be missing in any hobby garden. As this profile shows, a Malva sylvestris has a wide range of uses as an ornamental, useful, medicinal and food plant. In order to benefit from the multifaceted attributes, the horticultural maintenance effort is manageable. As long as the location is sunny, nutrient-rich and dry to fresh, the magnificent plant will thrive and bloom tirelessly. If you wait to cut back in autumn until the cheese-wheel-like fruits have opened and the seeds have spread, a new flower festival is guaranteed for the next year.