Why choose native plants? Pacific Northwest native plants know how to live here and how to thrive here. They often need much less water and less fertilizer. They spread slowly and are not invasive. They support a wide diversity of wildlife. And best of all, they look great!
Rose checker mallow is one the showiest summer perennials native to the western part of the state. This ‘wild hollyhock’ decorates meadows and swales from slightly south of Portland to the Rogue Valley in SW Oregon. The tall straight 16″ spires of densely arranged, hot pink flowers wave in the early summer breeze. Blooms May-July. A great cut flower, this obvious mallow relative is among our natives that improves under cultivation. Rust resistant. Water regularly and deeply for the first few months. Allow the ground to dry some between irrigation. Loved by butterflies and pollinators and one of the host plants for the endangered Willamette Valley ‘Fendler’s Blue’ butterfly. Continuously irrigated plants will have successive flushes of bloom. Long lived, resents disturbance. Excellent with Iris tenax, Penstemon kunthii and all Achilleas. Native to clay soils that dry in summer. Photo courtesy of Xera Plants.
