Sunday, June 14, 2009

Todays Flowers - French Hollyhock

French Hollyhock
Malva sylvestris 'Zebrina'
(MAL-vuh) (sil-VESS-triss)

Striped flowers always seem to capture my fancy and this one is no exception. French Hollyhock seems to grow best in lean soil that is well drained. They self seed profusely and the mother plants usually die out. It has over wintered for me before but I really don’t count on it. It is well worth it to grow it as annual as it blooms all season.

This is a wild rose that was blooming alongside a road into an industrial park that I was turning around on. I just decided to grab the camera and hop out of the truck and take a picture. It had a hint of fragrance but I am not sure if that wasn’t from having literally thousands and thousands of the same flower blooming all along the road. This flower wasn’t much to look at from afar but when viewed up close it was easy to see that it was really beautiful including the touch of blush and the way the stamens are arranged.


Since last Sunday I included a Peony picture here is another of the Peonies growing in the garden. This one is called ‘Gay Paree’. You can see the colors are great and they grow on about a 30 inches tall plant. It has a good fragrance. There is only one of these in the garden and it has been a little slow to develop but usually has a couple of flowers. It is considered an Anemone flowering type.


Here is a list of common names for Malva sylvestris from The Malva (Mallow) Pages

English (Australian): Tall Mallow

English (British): Common Mallow

English (American): High Mallow

French (Jersey): p'tite mauve

Spanish: Malva común, Malva Silvestre

Portuguese: (Brasil) Malva Silvestre

Italian: Malva, méiba, nalba, riondella

Romanian: Nalba de culturä, nalba de padure

German: Kultur-käsepappel

Dutch: Groot Kaasjeskruis

Swedish: rödmalva

Norwegian: Apotekerkattost

Finnish: Kiiltomalva

Estonian: mets-kassinaeris

Czech: sléz lesní

Slovak: slez lesný

Slovene: Gozdni slezenovec

Croatian: Sljez crni, Sljez divlji

Serbian: crni slez

Hungarian: Erdei mályva, mályva, Papsayt

Welsh: Hocysen Gyffredin

Basque: ziga, zigiña

Maltese: Hobbejza tar-raba

Korean: Dang-a-uk


For more flower pictures from around the world check out:
Today’s Flowers .

10 comments:

SquirrelQueen said...

Beautiful photos, the flowers are so striking. The French Hollyhock is so pretty, I love the colors.

Have a wonderful day,
SQ

VALKYRIEN said...

I simply love the Hollyhock! So beautiful pattern and colors! And peonies are also very beautiful. Great photos of them all!

Thanks for posting on Today's Flowers!

i beati said...

so much loveliness in one place

Leora said...

I can see why you like the French hollyhock! I wanted to grow hollyhocks, but then I read that they only last a few years? In any case, I didn't try.

Those wild roses are so pretty and delicate; if a blogger mentions fragrance, I can smell it in my imagination!

Thanks for the beauty.

Carletta said...

All are lovely but the Hollyhock and its purple lines is beautiful!
I haven't grown them in years. I think I should start again. :)

My post is here: Carletta’s Captures.

Rune Eide said...

Thank you for "Apotekerkattosten"! :-)

I agree with you on stiped flowers - there is something special, and this was no exception.

Vicky said...

very pretty flowers and you know all the names.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Mary Beth: Those are wonderful photos of the flowers.

Les said...

I bought one three years ago and was quickly disappointed that it flowered and promptly died. I put it on my never again list. Next summer it began popping up here and there, and now it comes up nearly everywhere.

Unknown said...

I love the photos, and the list of those alternative names for the malva! And I would definitely grow that 'Gay Paree'--I like the anemone-flowering ones.

Btw, I'm pretty sure that your wild, fragrant rose is the dreaded (invasive) multiflora rose... unfortunately.