This is a Plant Collectors Plant. I changed my whole section of my backyard to be able to grow this plant, and I am very happy I did, but it definitely took some work.

Rose Mallow is a Sacramento Valley import, growing in marshes and along stream banks. It is terribly endangered due to development along the Sacramento River and due to habitat loss from… well… Southern California importing water for our lawns and food. I planted this plant but decided that for me to have it, it would be hypocritical to water it with imported water. So instead of putting it on drip irrigation, it has a greywater valve that irrigates it every time my laundry machine is run. Water runs out my laundry machine, through a valve, down my side yard and into purple capped infiltration pits, which is where I’ve located each one of these plants. They seem to be slow growing since I’m growing them in cool coastal weather, with lower amounts of water, and less heat and sunshine than they want, but they die back to the ground and come up every year so I’m not complaining.

Plant in areas that receive high amounts of water or in heavy, moist clay and give as much water to it as you can. It will die back in the winter and bloom once the summer heats up. Cut back to 4-6” above ground once it has faded away for the season and look forward to its appearance next year.

This plant is stunningly beautiful, ephemeral and a reminder of the damage we do when we remove one regions resources to another region. It reminds me that nothing in the garden, even gross laundry water, should be wasted, because from that waste, comes beauty. There are no problems, simply opportunities.

Calscape