Dear Helen: Can you identify the flower in the attached photo? The plant is around one metre tall, with four branching stems bearing showy purple flowers with some striping. I’ve been told the plant is lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), but it seems to me more like a hollyhock. The plant arrived on its own — self-sown. Is it an annual or perennial?
A.F.
Lady’s mantle is very different from your plant. It’s a low-growing ground cover type perennial that creates mounds of soft, downy green leaves with scalloped edges and produces sprays of small chartreuse flowers.
Your assessment of the plant is closer to its identity. It is Malva sylvestris (tree mallow, common mallow), a freely self-sowing, usually hardy perennial characterized by large, hollyhock-like foliage and showy, dark-striped, mauve-purple blooms. The stripes serve a practical purpose as nectar guides for bees.
For several years I had these plants emerging robustly in parts of the front garden, where they grew and flowered even in dryish soil.
Malva sylvestris flowers all summer and well into autumn. An old name for the plant is “cheeses,” for the tan to brown seeds that are shaped like a cheese wheel.
Various selections of Malva sylvestris are available. Some can be viewed at .
Dear Helen: I’ve been following the “bunny battles” in your columns and hope you can pass along your observations on what plants have and have not been eaten. Any surprises?
R.P.
I’ve been comparing what I’ve seen in my garden with online lists of plants that rabbits do and do not eat. And yes, there have been surprises: marigolds, zinnias and larkspur — all on rabbit-proof lists, all eaten down to nubs of bare stems.
Two of my most treasured perennial clumps have been eaten. A prized Heliopsis ‘Lorraine Sunshine’ was a bright spot in the front garden with its golden flowers and creamy lime leaves heavily veined in darkest green. A garden phlox called Prospero has had some of its stems severed and eaten.
In one flower bed all the cosmos and lavatera, the tall, bushy marigolds and small French marigolds, and a group of unprotected sunflowers were all chomped down.
Non of the calendula (pot marigold) plants have been touched. I could fill the bed with calendula next year. There are many varieties, with enough differences among them in flower colour and form to make such a display interesting.
All the heucheras (coral bells) and hardy geraniums have been untouched, along with columbine, iris, foxglove, coreopsis, salvia, primrose and alyssum.
The aromatic herbs — lavender, oregano, rosemary and thyme among them, were left alone, as were the mints and calamint. The scent of mint is said to repel rabbits. I am hoping that the little seedling clumps of Calamintha ‘Marvelette Blue’ that I have been lifting and placing around vulnerable perennials will be something of a deterrent.
Among the vegetables beans, lettuce and other leafy greens have been prime targets. The carrots and beets have been protected with insect-excluding row cover.
Cucumber, squash, tomato, potato and onion plants have not been targeted.
GARDEN EVENTS
Flower and arts festival. St. Mark’s Anglican Church, Memorial Ave. at Hoylake Rd. in Qualicum Beach, is hosting a Festival of Flowers and Fine Arts on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 7 and 8, from 1 to 4 p.m. The festival will celebrate “Creation” in flowers and through the artistic skills of St. Mark’s parishioners with members of the Mid Island Floral Arts Club as special guests. Admission is by donation. Information at [email protected].
Peninsula meeting. The Peninsula Garden Club will meet on Monday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m. in the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney. Tamara Dinter will share the basics of “Soil Health” and how to apply them to home gardens. The evening includes a parlour show and access to Master Gardeners. Guests are welcome at no charge.
An evening with Des Kennedy. The Qualicum Beach Garden Club is hosting An Evening with Des Kennedy on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m. in the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre, 747 Jones St. Des is known for his beautiful Denman Island garden as well as for his novels and garden writing. Entry requires a physical ticket, free to club members, $5 for guests. Tickets can be acquired at Arbutus Fashion and Lifestyle and at Mulberry Bush Book Store in Qualicum. Or order online via Linda at [email protected]. Information at .
