How to grow Lavatera
Key Facts:
Height: varies of the popular varieties above L. rosea 1.5-2.5m; L. Barnsley 2m: L. Kew Rose 1.5. There are compact varieties.
Light: best in full sun
Soil: Any will grow in poor soil
Hardy: Most are fully hardy, -10, but not L. maritima, which needs winter protection. Plant away from cold winds
Special features:
Lavatera is an easy-to-grow, deciduous shrub which bears large, attractive flowers from mid-summer onwards, covering the shrub with masses of pink/mauve/white flowers. Lavatera is a long-flowering but short-lived shrub. It will fill a border space quickly, growing up to 3m and flowering until the first frosts. Suitable for coastal gardens.Dead head to prolong flowering.
How to Prune Lavatera
You can prune Lavatera in several ways:-
If the shrub is large, prune in the autumn, reducing stems by 50% to avoid wind rock.
For all other Lavatera, prune in spring after all risk of frost has passed. Prune it down by around a third or half.
Alternatively, since Lavatera responds well to a hard prune, cut it down almost to the ground in the spring.
You can also delay pruning until the new shoots can be seen at the base of the plant and the risk of frost has passed. Cut back all the old wood and let the plant re-grow new wood, which will form the summer's blooms.
Lavatera flowers best if it has an annual hard prune, which also curtails the plant's natural tendency to become leggy. Lavatera flowers on the current year's growth.
A hard frost can damage Lavatera, which can look unsightly. The best way to overcome this problem is to prune out the damaged branches in the spring. Also, Lavatera can get leggy and large, and to keep it looking fresh, it is best to prune regularly in the spring.
Lavatera is short-lived, usually becoming very leggy and flowering less by around year 6/7, depending on conditions. It can be propagated from softwood cuttings in spring or summer.
Crocus has a range of 5 different varieties of Lavatera on sale.
Types of Lavatera
I took this image at an NGS garden. It does not do justice to this attractive summer shrub. The variety is probably the commonly grown Lavatera x clementii, which grows between 1-2m.
There are annual mallows (L. trimestris cultivars,) perennial and Shrubby Mallows, the latter of which is the Lavatera commonly grown in gardens. There are some good varieties with RHS award of Garden Merit, worth seeking if you want to buy a Lavatera.
Image top left is Lavatera 'Rosea' ** and centre is L. "Barnsley"*** both of which are amongst the most popular and both with RHS garden merit award. L. barnsley is particularly pretty with its two coloured flowers. Illustrated above right L. 'Kew Rose' which is fully hardy, evergreen in mild areas and semi-deciduous in colder areas.
Lavatera is tolerant of salt and so suitable for a coastal garden. Most Lavatera are trouble-free and will grow on most soils, including poor, dry soil, with a preference for good drainage.
Lavatera is an unfussy, easy to grow summer flowering shrub.
For more ideas on good garden shrubs to grow, check out check out shrubs and bushes; spring flowering shrubs; summer flowering shrubs; shrubs with autumn and winter interest; and evergreen shrubs.
Mallow as a wildflower
Mallow often grows wild. It is a vigorous wildflower which can be found all over Europe and is often included in commercial wildflower mixes.
