Desert Mallow – Mix
Sphaeralcea ambigua
Characteristics
- Type: Perennial
- Zone: 6-9
- Bloom Colors: Pink, Orange, Purplish-Pink, Red, White
- Sun: Full Sun
- Height: to 3 Feet
- Spread: to 3 Feet
- Drought Tolerant
- Water: Low
- Soil Moisture: Dry
- Soil: Dry, Rocky or Sandy Soil
- Attracts: Bees, Butterflies
Culture
This drought tolerant Desert Mallow – Mix plant is the most xeriphytic of the Southwest Sphaeralceas. It is relatively short-lived but usually self-seeds. The leaves are fuzzy with white hairs on both sides, lobed, veined, and on long stems, the number of which increase with age. The fruit is a brown capsule containing numerous seeds, first quite spherical as implied by the genus name, later flattening to a disk. The flowers are bowl-shaped, 5-petaled, r, and bloom in the spring. Shrubby and woolly, this perennial grows 1-3 feet, with numerous large, apricot-orange to pink flowers in wand-like clusters near the tips of weak, wide-ranging, usually erect stems. The broad leaves have three lobes and rounded, scalloped edges. A grayish plant often with many stems.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Drought tolerant and native to Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah, Desert Mallow – Mix has adapted to many of the lower 48 States – including Texas. One of the largest-flowered, most drought-tolerant species of Globe-mallow. In wet years it forms spectacular displays in the low, hot southwestern deserts. The large number of flowers produced over a year provides a steady source of pollen and nectar to honey bees and other insects. Cut back after flowering to rejuvenate the plant. Hardy to -10o F.
Problems
No serious insects or diseases.
Garden Uses
Beds, Borders, Cottage Gardens, Gravel Gardens Landscape ornamental for xeriscape gardens.