More from the Rain Garden: Seashore Mallow

Seashore mallow (Kosteletzkya virginica) lights up the rain garden during the month of September with its parade of light pink flowers. Pollinators are all over it, sipping nectar and basking in the morning sunshine. 

The flowers open in the early hours as the sun hits the shrub from the east. Like other members of the mallow family [cotton, okra], the flowers wilt later in the day. Each bloom only opens for a day; however, the shrub flowers in such abundance you hardly notice this tendency.

Seashore mallow is a wonderful addition to a habitat or pollinator garden. It provides a nectar source for late season bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. This is the time of year that our hummingbird population explodes. The migrating RTH are joining our hummers that have been in our garden all summer so its critical to have multiple feeding sources as they are very territorial. 

ruby throated hummingbird

The yellow butterflies are especially fond of these rosy flowers. Cloudless sulphurs and Eastern Tiger swallowtails flutter around regularly.

cloudless sulphur butterfly

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly

Carpenter bees are constant visitors. Coated in pollen, it is fascinating to watch them fly with all that pollen clinging to their abdomen. 

carpenter bees

In nature, seashore mallow grows in the brackish marshes along the southeastern seashore but they adapt well to a variety of garden conditions from rich, wet soil to normal garden soil. It is a stand out plant in our rain garden surrounded by other moisture loving perennials. Seashore mallow shares similar growing requirements with joe pye weed (Eutrochium spp.), iron weed (Vernonia spp.), and switch grass (Panicum virgatum) and would make great companions for a fall show of texture and flowers. 

* * * For more on our rain garden see post on rain lilies (Zephyranthes atamasca) * * *

Below are four views of our seashore mallow shrub that grows in the rain garden bed at the front of our south facing home. This provides you with a 360 view of the shrub. 

with Sisyrinchium angustifolium, and
lavender (which will need to be transplanted to drier bed)

Clethera alnifolia, Thelypteris kunthil, Zephyranthes atamasca,
rudbeckia hirta and gaillardia

with Spirea tomentosa, Stokesia laevis, Zizia aurea
and Cercis canadensis

with Iris versicolor, Iris cristata, Monarda punctata,
Zephyranthes atamasca, Penstemon digitalis

This underused [in landscapes] perennial shrub is often overlooked in favor of hibiscus plant species but is a worthy addition to a garden for late summer / early fall color. The leaves fall in winter and stems can be cut back in spring as new shoots emerge. Below is a photo from June when other perennials are blooming in this bed. You can see the size of the seashore mallow between the lavender and penstemon. It easily triples in size from mid-summer to fall. 

mid-summer view of bed