The wild mallow is one of the oldest vegetable and medicinal plants that exist. But the plant also cuts a fine figure as a summer flower in the garden with its beautiful flowers. Wild mallows are undemanding and easy to care for in the garden or in a bucket. A personal description.

The wild mallow is an easy-care, robust beauty

Wild mallow - a profile

  • Botanical name: Malva sylvestris
  • popular names: large cheese poplar, carrot mallow
  • Plant family: Mallow family (Malvaceae)
  • Location: as sunny as possible
  • Perennial: mostly biennial
  • Height: 50 to 150 centimeters
  • Leaves: green, ivy-like
  • Flower: pink, lilac-violet, white, crimson
  • Flowering period: May to September
  • Propagation: self-sowing
  • Toxicity: non-toxic
  • Use in the garden: ornamental plant, some species suitable for containers
  • Use as a medicinal plant: colds, inflammation

Particularly beautiful varieties of wild mallow

variety name flower color growth height particularities
Blue Fountain blue-violet up to 120 cm blue flower with a violet base
Inky Stripe pink-violet up to 100 cm pink flower with violet stripes
Demar Marina blue-violet up to 150 cm suitable as a container plant
Zebrina white-violet up to 100 cm suitable as a container plant
Mystic Merlin violet, blue, purple up to 150 cm multicolored variety
Mauritania dark purple up to 100 cm very large flowers
Roy March violet up to 100 cm striped flower

Wild mallow as a medicinal plant

Wild mallow used to be universally used to treat a wide variety of diseases and ailments. The plant contains mucilage, tannins and essential oils.

Today, the wild mallow is used as a medicinal plant for colds and inflammation of the mouth and throat.

Wild mallow in the kitchen

While wild mallow is eaten as a vegetable in southern European cuisine, it is rarely used as a culinary herb in our latitudes.

Older leaves contain a lot of mucilage, which reduces enjoyment. However, it is worth trying to serve the young leaves in a salad. They taste very tender.

Tea can be made from the flowers of the wild mallow. The pretty inflorescences also look very decorative on vegetable plates or as a decoration for soups.

tips

Wild mallows also come into their own in pots. Since they develop very long taproots, they are not suitable for balcony boxes.(109.00€) The planter should be at least 60 centimeters deep.

Category:

Herbs