Topic: Something I didn't plant? [Solved] Malva Zebrina

[Patty S]

I have a plant coming up in this bed, to the left of the Cosmos & Dahlias (& behind the Chives) & I'm not sure what it is.  
     
It sorta looks like a Hollyhock to me, but I didn't plant any of those & the one I have in my veggie garden (that the birds planted 2 years ago) hasn't flowered yet, so there's no way a seed could have blown over from there.  (The Hollyhock they planted grew really slow, but this plant has gotten as big in 2 months, as the Hollyhock did in a whole year.) 

I'm wondering if anything else has leaves like that. 

[Triss]

Could you have planted Malva Zebrina?  Looks a lot like and and they are very similar to hollyhock but grow a lot faster.

[Patty S]

I did have Malva Zebrina in that bed last year... seeds that Jimmy sent me, & I loved them, but they wound up taking up too much space, so I planted some seeds in front, next to the road, this year.

I'll just bet that when I collected the seeds last year, I didn't get all of them!  Gosh!  Imagine that!    I'll take my camera out there & take a pic of the Malva Zebrina, when I turn off my sprinkler... meanwhile, I think you've solved this one.

[Triss]

Well once they seed, they sure seed a LOT.  Here is a picture of mine that I just took.  It is back up against the wall so it does not take up too much space.  I want to plant some hollyhock along with this one eventually.

[Patty S]

Jimmy told me that too, & that's why I tried to harvest those seeds early last year... I didn't realize they'd get so big, & didn't want that bed full of them again this year, cuz I have so many other things growing there.

Well, the pic I took turned out too fuzzy, but I didn't need it anyway, cuz I found 2 places where I posted pics of my Malva Zebrina last year.  One is of last year's seedling, & the other one is  BG's county fair entree.

Good eye, Triss!   That's exactly what I didn't plant in that bed this year!  If I'd have just slowed down & thought about what I had there last year, I could have looked them up here & wouldn't have had to ask!

Oops!  I just found pics that Jimmy & I both posted, in his Zabrina white and purple topic last year.

[Triss]

Good deal Patty.  Looks like yours are the same color as mine, must have gotten mine from Jimmy as well.  I had some darker ones also but apparently they did not come up again this year.  Bummer cuz they were pretty also.

[Patty S]

I didn't know that they came in other colors... Jimmy introduced them to me, & I haven't learned much about them at all.  Now that I've Googled them, I see that they come in several colors; pinks, purples & various shades of yellows, as deep as beige.   Gotta keep an eye out for seeds of those other colors, I guess, cuz it'd be cool to have them all.

When I was doing my early morning walk-around today, I noticed lots of them, coming up in the field, among the Coreopsis, Sunflowers & Calendulas... & one even has a flower on it already!   (I had forgotten that they were among the 22 things I planted out there.)
     
I'll let those go to seed there, & hope they'll come back next year, although I'm not sure how draught tolerant they are.   I'm watering my field row twice a day this year, but I don't know that I'll be so diligent next year, as my field flowers are just a novelty for now & that project might not turn into anything more than a passing fancy. 

I did read that Malva Zebrina is a cousin to the Hollyhock & Mallow, & I know that deer like Hollyhocks.   We'll just see what happens.